Intermezzo #32: "Whazzup!

Another intermezzo?

- Yes.

Why?

-Writers block, I think. I have been staring at computer screens for hours the past few days.

Ah, you only have to write another 48 articles for this year.

-well, I hope a little less. I found a volunteer guest writer who can help me out every now and then.

So, What's keeping you busy these days?

-I found a great CD about a month ago. I forgot it for a while, but the last days I have been playing this on my iPod at the laboratory. Everybody seems to like it. It's 4x4=12 by Deadmau5. Check out "Animal Rights"! (don't forget to pump up your speakers).

Ah, nice tune! Anything else?

-Yep, I got a great "Lucky Package" from KIKS TYO earlier this week. It's the ¥10000 package and it was filled with a lot of goodies. Have a look:

-A cool Batman Hoody.

-A very nice and warm pair of elephant padding jogging trousers.

-And 4 cool shirts!

-I had seen these Sneaker Pimps tour shirts, but they were unavailable for me, as I could not visit one of these shows. I am very happy I could get one this way.

-A T-Shirt of the Graphkiks Collection, featuring Yuu Tejima

-Old School Hip Hop

-Great Flavor Flav shirt in hot pink. Yeah Boy! Cool for summer.

Wow, That's a nice bunch of clothes!

-Thank you, KIKS TYO has some great offers at the moment. I think the Lucky Packs are still available and today they even added a special  Lucky Pack Tee for only ¥5000. Check out this link, a lot of new stuff is added lately! My recent trip to japan and the purchase of a new DSLR camera has put my budget for the moment to the ground, but I have asked to hold a black "KIKS TYO x KINETICS "YEAR OF THE BUNNY" T-Shirt for me.

As a returning customer, that was no problem. Did I even tell you I met Hobby:Tech?

Wow, That's pretty cool.

-He was a very nice down to earth guy. Very busy and I am very glad he made time for me.

So, do you have any plans for the weekend?

-Yep, I just reserved tickets for the cinema tomorrow.

What movie?

-I noticed last summer that Daft Punk was signing for "Tron Legacy". I very much like the old "Tron" movie. I've got it on DVD and my son Bram has played this movie quite a lot. Since I have the new Daft Punk soundtrack, he plays the CD over and over again in the CD player. He never calls them Daft Punk. He always says "The Robots". I think Thomas Bangalter and Guy manuel de Homem Christo has delivered a very solid soundtrack for the movie. Tomorrow Bram and I will see how it works in the movie. I think you can hardly imagine how much Bram is looking forward to this. While I was in Japanthe single "Derezzed" could be heard everywhere in shops, restaurants and public buildings.

Well, that's a great track from Daft Punk. Didn't I hear this track on the "Shock The World Taipei" party of 2011?

-Oh yeah? I should search for STW Taipei video's. But first I need to think out a subject for a new 50 Gs article and start writing....

Good luck writing and enjoy the movie tomorrow!
-Thanks!

G-Shock #2: Sharkmarine Subcrew

 In September 2010 Casio released the latest collaboration G-Shock with Subcrew. Subcrew is an urban fashion brand, based in Hong Kong. The first 100 models were named “Shark Marine” and were numbered individually. A vinyl shark accompanied the G-Shock.

The first 100 were sold out fast. The watch became also available as a “normal” limited edition, but without a number on the back and without the “Sharkmarine”. I got this set from a friend from Kaliber 2010 (the Dutch watch forum on WatchUSeek). He bought a separate Subcrew shark of Special Edition collection of 2009 to complement his Subscrew G-Shock.

 Subcrew is a Hong Kong based urban clothing brand that was founded in 2003 by Creative Director Sam Lee (1975). He is a famous actor in Hong Kong. He has played in about 70 movies from 1997 until now. Beside his acting career he is also known as DJ BecarefulLee. He is quite a busy guy, as he is also an occasionally a rapper in the metal-hip hop band LMF.

Not quite surprising, the name Subcrew is derived from the words “Submarine” and “Crew”. A cool way of showing you all stand behind the brand and follow its course against the odds. While Subcrew started as a Hong Kong based brand, now their clothing is sold in official stores in Taiwan, China, Macau, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Canada and New Zealand. Luckily there is also an on-line store, so you can buy their products too in Europe and the US.

This G-Shock is not the first collaboration with G-Shock. In 2008 a special version of the basic black DW-5600E model was released and in 2009 a special version of the DW-5600CS-9JF was released. Both these models were not very special collaboration models. The straps had an extra print. That’s all.

For the collaboration with G-Shock in 2010, Subcrew packed out differently. The dark green color is very unique and in the backlight there is a shark. The” sharkmarine” returns in the funny colorful packaging. These are the collaborations we (the G-Shock Collectors) like to see.

 

The fun of this watch already starts at the box. When you open the box for the first time, it looks like a friendly yellow shark (“Fish are friends, not food”) is opening his mouth and that the watch is lying on his tongue.

This “Subcrew” G-Shock has a very special color. It is called “Deep Forest Green”, a very dark shade of green, almost grey in some light conditions. The shark teeth pattern from the box returns on the strap. The eyes of the shark return on the strap keeper.

The metal parts of the watch are in a light gold tone. It’s a remarkable tone, as it is lighter than the usual tones, as you find on the 25th Anniversary models and you wouldn’t expect it on a gray/green color scheme. It looks right though, although silver would have looked OK too.

The Subscrew logo is etched big on the back. The first 100 models had a number, but I have one of the later production. At that time (September 2010) I was saving money for my Men In Yellow tribute Frogman. You can’t have them all.

If you thought you have seen it all, you should turn on the EL. The “Sharkmarine” is swimming in the backlight. I love it as a Collaboration model has a logo or other graphics in the backlight. I think this makes the watch stand out of the standard ones.

This watch was probably only available in Hong Kong. I can only find 4 of them on eBay right now, all without serial number, with a starting price of around $170.-. I think it would be almost impossible to find the complete numbered “Sharkmarine” set. Not only G-Shocks are popular in Hong Kong, also these vinyl figures are very popular (see also the G-Shock by Michael Lau). If you like the shark, you can order the shark, I have with this watch at Subscrew for around HK$450 (€45.-). I have paid a bit more for mine, but I haven’t calculated the shipping costs of the watch and the shark above. I think this watch is a very nice collaboration model, which would find a happy place in a G-Shock collection. If I have the spare money for a second one, I would like to have one to wear. I think its quite a looker.

G-Shock #1: Let’s start this year Metallic.

I daily get e-mails of G-Shock owners asking if I know more about their new purchase. Sometimes the answers are pretty easy, sometimes I have do dive into my resources to find out more and sometimes I am pretty amazed what people find.

I think about 6 months ago I received a mail about a red DW-6900 model. It had a mushroom in the backlight. He wanted to know if this was a real G-Shock.

Somehow people are quite often afraid they have bought a fake G-Shock. I think the answers on those questions are pretty easy. For a DW-6900 version, look at the eyes and the date digits and you can spot the difference. I think if you bought a “Rare Bape” model for $20.- from a guy selling the whole series, I think you must be not very smart if you need to ask if your watch is real. I do not think I need a photo for comparison for that.

I was quite impressed by the photo's of this model. It was a DW-6900FL of the Metallic-G series, released June 2001. The backlight design and back engraving were designed by an artist called FRF. According to Casio is an artist who makes graphics for surfing boards and skateboards. I did some research, but unfortunately I could not find any info on this artist.

The Metallic-G series was quite a big release. The series consist of 9 models, 3 DW-5600FL models, 2 DW-6900FL models, a G-100FL, a G-2000FL, a G-2110FL and a G-2500FL model. Although this series models come in several colors, they all have a metallic shine.

This metallic shine is actually a thin foil coating of the band and the bezel. Like the coating of the Gold Defender and Snake Killer Frogman, the coating will wear off after a long time use, specially at the place where the buckle meets the strap. At that place it is not very disturbing that the layer wears off, because it’s the place you do not see while wearing the watch.

I was very happy I could help the owner of this watch with the information I could find, but I also liked this model very much. I seem to have a strong preference to red and yellow G-Shocks.

On December 29 I went with my friend DragonJade to Machida to do a bit fun shopping on the last day I was in Japan. He knew a Book-Off store that might carry some second hand G-Shocks. It looked like a small paradise. So what did I see there. A W.C.C.S. Frogman for ¥9000, a M.I.N.K. Mudman for ¥5000, this great DW-6900FL-4MJR for around ¥4500 and a DW-5025D (Ocean Gray) for a good price.

Unfortunately the Frogman and Mudman were already reserved (arghhh, I love that Mudman, it was a steal and also it was in awesome condition too…). I pulled a DW-9550HB-9T from the display (¥5000) to ease my pain. I ended up leaving the shop with the Ocean Gray DW-5025D, that DW-9550HB and this DW-6900FL. The Ocean Gray G-Shock was actually a gift from me and my friend to DragonJade for his hospitality and as a souvenir to our stay in Tokyo. I must start saving money to go back in a few years again.

Although the Frogman and Mudman could not leave the shop with me, I was very happy with my DW-6900FL-4MJR. You don’t see this models around very much and I think I was very happy to find one in that store. A funny coincidence is that my friend Yamazaru-san was wearing the G-2000FL-2MJR, when I we met him in Kyoto a few days before I bought mine. Although his G-2000FL is blue, that model is also a very impressive metallic watch. It also matched perfectly Yamazaru-san’s colorful personality.

The color of the watch is not bright red, but the shade looks more like bricks of houses. It’s red, but it bends a little to orange and brown. This makes the appearance of the watch look pretty unique. In 2007 Casio released the Metallix-G series. The red DW-6900M has a similar shade of red.

Not only the metallic finish of the straps and the bezel are special about this models, the EL backlight is pretty funny. Fr4ankly I have no idea what it is. It can be a guy standing next to a mushroom, or is it a turtle that is drying his shell on a stick. Pretty special about this graphic is that it is multi colored, while a backlight design normally is all in one color.

If you want to have this model, do not expect exorbitant prices. I bought mine for about ¥4500 in Japan. I have seen this model 2nd hand for sale only a few times at a seller in Hong Kong, who is specialized in selling 2nd hand rare G-Shocks. Still the prices were far under $100.-. It is as far as I know not really a sought after model and the color might not be too attractive for most. Still I think this is a very nice model and a great addition to my collection.