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Dec. 12th, 2008 08:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormdogI bought a marble roller coaster last night on Ebay! Specifically I bought this marble roller coaster! It should be shipping today. I so can't wait to get this thing and start building!
As I mentioned in my last post, these things have become my latest fixation. So, as I do with all of my fixations, I started doing research.
The Ban Dai Spacewarp line of marble roller coasters was discontinued in the late '80s, though Ban Dai continued to sell parts through the mid '90s until their stock was depleted. There was one series of different models that sold in Japan (where it sold rather better than in the states), and another series of models that were for US release. Rather than names, they had numbers. In the US, they were kits 10 through 50, while in Japan, they were numbered in the thousands; 5000, 10000, etc. I'm not certain what numbers were available in Japan exactly.
The exception to this numbering scheme was the one that I had as a kid; Spacewarp Black Wolf. It was different in other ways too; unlike it's numbered cousins which had white rails, the Black Wolf had black ones. It had some not-quite-literal bells and whistles: there was a set of chimes the balls would roll past and sound for instance. It also had a motorized stairway and little tubes with a 180° bend to make for very sharp turn-arounds, which the other sets didn't have. But for the most part, it looks like they were basically all the same toy in different configurations.
As I said, I used to have a Black Wolf. My parents got it for me when I was rather younger. I don't remember exactly when; elementary school probably. I had this weirdness about wanting to keep all my belongs in pristine and reusable; as close to factory condition as possible. In fact, I still get a little bit stuck in that mindset these days, though I'm better then I was.
So I had this Black Wolf coaster, all glittering and pristine, and I remember opening it up and putting together bits of it; things like the ball elevator and the stairway with it's accompanying camshaft. I snapped together the halves of the little tubes and the motor casing. But when it came to actually doing the track, I chickened out. The track comes in one great spool, so you have to measure and cut pieces of it. My memories are a little fuzzy on this, but I'm pretty sure I was convinced that, as soon as I started cutting into the track, I was going to ruin it. Irrevocably ruin it. This was the major step that couldn't be undone. So, I never did it. I never took that step. And I never built anything out of it. And now it seems to be long gone. I looked at my parents house on Wednesday and asked around to see if anyone had seen it, but found no success. This should be a lesson, methinks.
What brought this all back to mind again was seeing a Black Wolf set at the local gaming store, Rockhead's, in a humongous pile of old board games and other such things for $3 a piece. Of course I had to pick it up. And the owner even let me have it on credit! (He and my dad are old friends from back when, so he knows where to send the muscle.) Earlier this week, I finally put in the effort to clean up the computer room a bit and make some space so I could lay the thing out and start to work. In fact, I even had a dream about putting it together the night before! I wasn't going to follow any directions, I was just going to put stuff up and play. In particular, I want a series of descending loops that start out big, then get smaller in the middle, then get big again at the bottom. I also want some vertical loops in there, and big swoopy curves...
So I took everything out and found out there are no base pieces to set anything on. Oh no! So, I have some coming thanks to the above-referenced Ebay purchase.
But in looking at all this information I've found something even better than a place to buy parts. I've found information on making your own! The sort of information that can be found here. Information like a template to place over 1/8" plastic stock to machine your own cross ties for the track. How to use plastic coated clothes line, or oil gauge feed line to replace track sections. How to use small metal rods to extend the height of the included aluminum poles by doubling up. Where to get replacement motors for the elevator (try old cassette decks or VCRs). How to keep the little plastic cross-tie pieces, brittle with age as they are, from breaking, as several of mine did even as I was just looking and poking at them (soak them in hot water prior to use, or use a soldering iron and nail to enlarge the holes in them for the track). How to make your own base plates, or base plates with custom spacing, by taking a block of wood and drilling holes. Even thoughts on custom ferris-wheel style or solenoid-actuated ball lifts! Awesome stuff!
Well, I was going to post links to a bunch of videos and pictures and stuff, but maybe I'll do that separately. In the meantime, I'll leave you to wonder at the fact that Moiracoon manages to stay married to someone with these bizarre obsessions over random bits of geekery...
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Hey, Posi!! Could that site you showed me make plastic parts for me to replace originals that break? That would be so cool!! I'll talk to you about it tonight!
As I mentioned in my last post, these things have become my latest fixation. So, as I do with all of my fixations, I started doing research.
The Ban Dai Spacewarp line of marble roller coasters was discontinued in the late '80s, though Ban Dai continued to sell parts through the mid '90s until their stock was depleted. There was one series of different models that sold in Japan (where it sold rather better than in the states), and another series of models that were for US release. Rather than names, they had numbers. In the US, they were kits 10 through 50, while in Japan, they were numbered in the thousands; 5000, 10000, etc. I'm not certain what numbers were available in Japan exactly.
The exception to this numbering scheme was the one that I had as a kid; Spacewarp Black Wolf. It was different in other ways too; unlike it's numbered cousins which had white rails, the Black Wolf had black ones. It had some not-quite-literal bells and whistles: there was a set of chimes the balls would roll past and sound for instance. It also had a motorized stairway and little tubes with a 180° bend to make for very sharp turn-arounds, which the other sets didn't have. But for the most part, it looks like they were basically all the same toy in different configurations.
As I said, I used to have a Black Wolf. My parents got it for me when I was rather younger. I don't remember exactly when; elementary school probably. I had this weirdness about wanting to keep all my belongs in pristine and reusable; as close to factory condition as possible. In fact, I still get a little bit stuck in that mindset these days, though I'm better then I was.
So I had this Black Wolf coaster, all glittering and pristine, and I remember opening it up and putting together bits of it; things like the ball elevator and the stairway with it's accompanying camshaft. I snapped together the halves of the little tubes and the motor casing. But when it came to actually doing the track, I chickened out. The track comes in one great spool, so you have to measure and cut pieces of it. My memories are a little fuzzy on this, but I'm pretty sure I was convinced that, as soon as I started cutting into the track, I was going to ruin it. Irrevocably ruin it. This was the major step that couldn't be undone. So, I never did it. I never took that step. And I never built anything out of it. And now it seems to be long gone. I looked at my parents house on Wednesday and asked around to see if anyone had seen it, but found no success. This should be a lesson, methinks.
What brought this all back to mind again was seeing a Black Wolf set at the local gaming store, Rockhead's, in a humongous pile of old board games and other such things for $3 a piece. Of course I had to pick it up. And the owner even let me have it on credit! (He and my dad are old friends from back when, so he knows where to send the muscle.) Earlier this week, I finally put in the effort to clean up the computer room a bit and make some space so I could lay the thing out and start to work. In fact, I even had a dream about putting it together the night before! I wasn't going to follow any directions, I was just going to put stuff up and play. In particular, I want a series of descending loops that start out big, then get smaller in the middle, then get big again at the bottom. I also want some vertical loops in there, and big swoopy curves...
So I took everything out and found out there are no base pieces to set anything on. Oh no! So, I have some coming thanks to the above-referenced Ebay purchase.
But in looking at all this information I've found something even better than a place to buy parts. I've found information on making your own! The sort of information that can be found here. Information like a template to place over 1/8" plastic stock to machine your own cross ties for the track. How to use plastic coated clothes line, or oil gauge feed line to replace track sections. How to use small metal rods to extend the height of the included aluminum poles by doubling up. Where to get replacement motors for the elevator (try old cassette decks or VCRs). How to keep the little plastic cross-tie pieces, brittle with age as they are, from breaking, as several of mine did even as I was just looking and poking at them (soak them in hot water prior to use, or use a soldering iron and nail to enlarge the holes in them for the track). How to make your own base plates, or base plates with custom spacing, by taking a block of wood and drilling holes. Even thoughts on custom ferris-wheel style or solenoid-actuated ball lifts! Awesome stuff!
Well, I was going to post links to a bunch of videos and pictures and stuff, but maybe I'll do that separately. In the meantime, I'll leave you to wonder at the fact that Moiracoon manages to stay married to someone with these bizarre obsessions over random bits of geekery...
=========
Hey, Posi!! Could that site you showed me make plastic parts for me to replace originals that break? That would be so cool!! I'll talk to you about it tonight!
