Tamagotchi battery challenges

- This is not the correct way to change the battery -

Our beloved little extraterrestrials cannot live without batteries. On the back of our little eggs therefore, are screws (mostly) which one can unscrew to remove and replace one or more batteries, depending on the type of Tamagotchi. Simple you say? Nay!

A few weeks ago I decided to hatch two of my beloved V's (V2 and V4). After many years of being in a drawer, obviously, the batteries had died as well as the Tamagotchi. The V's I own require these types of batteries:

I searched high and low, but most stores did not sell these types of batteries. I tried grocery stores, pharmacy and a bike store; but they were nowhere to be bought. A friend gave me a tip to go to a jeweler, since these batteries are often used for watches. Off I was to the closest jeweler. After searching for 20 (!!) minutes, the shopkeeper emerged and proudly presented me with a CR2032, unknown brand battery. "How much do they cost?" I asked. He answered (straight faced) with: "15 euro's per battery" (that's about 20 USD). I nearly choked and ran out of the store thinking to myself: "You've got to be kidding me!". Across the street from the jeweler was my favorite gamestore. What the heck, I thought, and asked there for the same battery. They told me that a general goods store a little further up the street should be selling them. Off to the general store I went.

I asked the clerk for the battery I needed. She calmly turned around to a shelve. Picked up a pack with 5 batteries of a well known brand and said: "That'll be 1 euro please." I couldn't believe it. One euro for 5 batteries whilst the jeweler just straight faced told me they were 15 euro's a piece???

It took me two days to get the batteries I needed and I nearly hugely overpaid for them as well. Just to get my sweet Tamagotchi's to beep and be happy again.

But then I got my new iDL. This one needs AAA's. Easy enough. I stack a whole bunch of those at home. Stress free you'd think.

- The back of my iDL e -

I had allready kept my trusted screwdriver I used for my V's at hand. Ready to start the challenge, when I noticed there was no screw to unscrew. There was a little press button. Even easier! I got my Nintendo DS stylus and started fiddling. ..... Uhm.... nothing's happening. Shouldn't it pop open or something??? After resorting to more drastic measures (a pen, as you can see unfortunately) and more fiddling I eventually managed to get it open and replace the batteries.

Another battery challenge victory!

Soon I will get my new Morino. This one requires the same batteries the old P1 and 2 needed. Which are these:

I have read on Tamatalk that these batteries can leak. Destroying your Tamagotchi without you being able to see this when you're buying it (when still in the box). I am holding my breath and praying to the TamaGods that mine will be fine. This is what that horror looks like:

 - A very scary sight for Tamagotchi owners -

Not a pretty sight. The first thing I need to do when the Morino arrives therefore is replace the batteries. However, one cannot use their trusted screwdrivers like the one we use for our V's. We'll need to resort to more specialized tools such as these:

Not only do I need to get these tiny batteries (which don't come cheap at 13 USD per pair), but I also need to buy a toolset of tiny screwdrivers just to open the back up. This Morino is getting costly!

Not only can the battery leak, you can also damage the Tamagotchi yourself. I have heard stories of people unscrewing their Tama and destroying the little screw by using too much force or the screw being so soft it just got all mangled up. When I told my boyfriend (who does a lot of mechanical work) about this, he advised me to put a little thin piece of cloth over the screw before unscrewing. This would protect to screw from getting destroyed. Handy tip for those of you who did not know!

I haven't received the Morino yet. But I have my old P1 and P2 which I will also release from their empty batteries as soon as my new toolkit arrives. I'm just hoping all my Tamagotchi's will be leak-free and beep at me again after replacing the batteries.

Pff.... battery challenges!

Update on Mametchi

 - Mametchi enjoying the view -

You probably haven't noticed because I had my blog set to autopost (pre-wrote the last few articles before I left) but I was on holiday last week in Germany!

I took Mametchi with me and we had a great time in the sauna:

- Mametchi relaxing in the sauna - 

And the bubble bath:

After a few days I had collected all the joy stickers and decided it was time for Mametchi to go on a date with a cute girl. They went to the park and out to dinner, basically had a good old time together and before I knew it: a egg appeared! It hatched soon after and Mametchi and his new baby girl played a game together. His baby got tired and fell asleep. He then left the house.

- The two lovebirds falling in love -

- Mametchi and his egg and after him and his newborn baby daughter playing -

 

- Momoirotchi calling me after Mametchi left -

-  Momoirotchi became Rolutchi! -

- And Rolutchi became Sabosabotchi -

And now, all grown up, I present to you:

- Perotchi eating dinner with her daddy Mametchi -

So this is where we are now. Perotchi just became a adult today so I'll be dragging her along atleast until next weekend. I'll keep you posted on her progress and will post other Tamagotchi related articles in the meantime, so be sure to check my blog regularly for new info and articles!

The joys of eBay hunting

 - I think those plants need some water -

As a Tamagotchi fan, like I am sure you probably are, we all know the joys and pains of eBay hunting. Finding that one perfect deal for that Tamagotchi you have been looking for such a long time.

Without forums like TamaTalk it's really hard to know wether the price you think you'll go for is reasonable or not. Adds like the one below are easy to detect, which is clearly outrageous by the way, but how can you tell what is a bargain and what is not?

- Is this person trying to make a statement or was it a typo?  -

As per discussed in a previous entry, Devilgotchi's will go for around $270 USD a pop (if mint and in box). For a Devil, that's actually reasonable. If it were a Tama-Go, it'd be a whole nother matter.

Other than the prices, there's the payment to worry about. Some people (like me) don't have a creditcard. Luckily for me, I live in Europe, where SEPA has just been introduced. Now, PayPal can automatically withdraw money from my debit account and pay for my orders. This is very important, because since I don't own a creditcard, I wouldn't be able to buy 90% of the Tamagotchi's offered on eBay. If you don't live in Europe and don't have creditcard, you can pretty much give up on those great deals before you even started looking.

- When you read the offer, it says that it is used, doesn't work and has scratches... Total bargain! -

Let's say we found our bargain, we can pay for it, we ordered it and now we wait. 

....

Still waiting

....

AARGH! I can't take this anymore! Message the seller "Have you sent my Tamagotchi yet??!!" No reply. Eventhough you've checked their feedback and all seemed so well... That's why I only spend money on eBay that I'm willing to "throw away" if you will. I wouldn't be very hurt if the money is gone.

I know you can try and get it back through PayPal or eBay but still. It's a risk you're taking. 

Eventhough we all go through these pains we still just love to hunt. I hunt on eBay for my dreams like Devilgotchi's and Ocean's English. I know they will never come within the range I'm willing to pay yet I still look them up time and time again. Until eventually I'll probably crack and overspend. *sigh*. 

Hold on, I'm just gonna check eBay real quick. Brb.

Keep it in the box!

- My iD L English when it was still worth $75 USD -

The other day I came across a thread on TamaTalk where someone had just bought a P1 and was asking how to best replace the batteries. Everyone soon came to his aid and helped him out. But there was one post that was different:

- Name and other info removed. Not bashing people for their opinions here -

I know that this rule of "Don't open the box" goes for many collectible items, not just Tamagotchi's. I look at these boxed Tama's and I remember that feeling when you get this brandnew one in the mail and it's all crisp and packaged... AND THEN BRUTALLY RIP IT OPEN! Lol. That last bit is the most important one for me: open it up and feel the new shell. Admire the colours. Read the manual cover to cover and then all over again. I just love it.

Keeping it in the box feels like I did not finish the fun part (yet). I've been waiting for it to arrive for weeks most of the time. To then just put it on a shelf and not do anything with it just because of it's economic value feels wrong to me.

- Together these are worth about $1000 USD -

I think that buying a Tama and then not playing it makes it a investment. I'm not a investor. I'm a player. I collect them not to look at them in a box and wait for them to be worth more. I do see why people would feel that way. It's as if you just threw away money. But I think NOT opening them is wasting money. Guess it just depends on how you look at it.

- And now they're worth about $600 USD if not less -

However, the person asking the question in the thread I mentioned bought it to play with it. Currently, I see P1's going on eBay for around $100 USD. Used ones go for around $32 USD. How much of a waste is that? Not much to me personally. I understand that in the future, they might be worth a lot more than that. But again; he bought it to play with it. He knows what he paid for it. 

I think what the person was trying to say was: "Buy a used one if you're going to open the box anyway". But to me: that would spoil part of the fun. I want a crisp, new Tamagotchi and get that "opening of the box" experience.

Are you a "investor", a "player", or are you a "collector"? Or maybe all of the above? Let me know what you think in the comment section.

Playing with a Tamagotchi makes you a freak

 - How I feel sometimes -

As I'm sure you have discovered by now I'm 27 years old. I wouldn't say I am the greatest Tamagotchi fan ever, but I do love to play with my Tamagotchi's. I don't collect them for their value. I don't buy plushies or other items. I just like playing with them (hence why they're all out of their boxes, even limited editions).

This is the response I got on my Facebookpage after posting about my new iDL e: (it's in Dutch, but I assume we all understand what "wtf" means...)

- Yes, that's a quokka as my profile picture :-p -

Interpret this however you want. I know this person and the people who liked the comment. I know what this person means is: "This is crazy". As you can see, some other people just "liked" the post. I do have friends that think it's cool. But the "wtf" response says it all for me: some people think I'm a freak.

Maybe some of my friends do too, but are too scared to tell me. I don't know. It's a shame it's such a taboo subject. Many people like to play Candy Crush or other such games on their phone. Nobody has a "wtf" opinion about that, right? Nobody thinks that's really immature and gives you a funny look when you post about reaching level *** on Facebook...

- I made this meme especially for this blog. You are ofcourse allowed to use it -

I was at a kids party a few weeks ago and this kid got a new Furby for his birthday. As I am also a Furby fan I saw him struggling with what to do with the thing. His parents obviously had no clue. So I came over to where he was, asked for his dad's iPad, installed the free app and showed the child how it worked. The kid was elated. He loved the app and immediatly ran off to a corner so he could spend some quality time with his Furby and dad's iPad.

Meanwhile, I looked around and saw a bunch of adults staring at me like: "Whats up with this chick??". I proudly explained that I own one exactly like his myself and I really enjoy all virtual life. More blank stares... *sigh*

I guess blogging about it won't make much of a difference. If only Bandai would make Tamagotchi's targeted at adults (which will never ever happen), maybe it would change. 

Everybody has their odd interests right? Some collect coins or stamps. Maybe they like art or have a particular taste in music thats very different to the general public. Except our hobby is right out there. We can't put on a set of headphones and nobody knows what we're listening to. We can't go home and secretly look at our coins or stamps without anybody knowing we collect them (well, if you never take Tama's out of boxes maybe).

I should just shrugg it off and think "whatever dude" and move on. It's my life, my Tamagotchi's and I love them. And if that's a problem for you then I guess that sucks on your part.

Do the Tama Dance!

 - I want a chair like this one -

Saw someone on TamaTalk talk about this music video. It's in French but it's still really catchy. Do the Tama Dance ya'll, lolz.

- It's so cheesy that it's actually funny -

Tamagotchi Friends or foe?

A new addition to the Tamagotchi family has been released in several countries and will be released next week in The Netherlands (where I live).

"New" features include:
- Bumping, which means holding two Tamagotchi's back to back to exchange messages, play games etc.
- A meter that will show how many times you've "bumped" your Tamagotchi
- Collect jewelry to unlock new games
- 5 games in total (two need to be unlocked)
- Connect to DreamTown (seems to be like TamaTown) to collect items for your Tamagotchi

- A very happy child -

I first heard about this new Tamagotchi through an add from bol.com (Dutch onlinestore like Amazon). I got all excited and went to check out videos on YouTube to see how it worked. I was actually quite disappointed. The screen was vague and still grey scale. The new features weren't very interesting to me. I'd have to buy two because none of the people I know will buy one. That makes it quite expensive at 30 euro's a piece. That's more than I paid for my P's and my iDL e and those come from the other side of the planet.

- The box -

I just feel like it's a very slightly upgraded version of my V4 and after almost 8 years, I expected more. I know we have the P's and iDL's, but those are Japanese/Asian market Tama's. I have to go on Ebay, pay money and pray that the person on the other side of the world will keep their word and then wait for weeks to get it. I can't go to the store and get one of those. I just wish Bandai would release the more modern versions here as well.

Add to that the fact that people already think I'm nuts for having Tamagotchi's (more about that in another entry later). If they release these seemingly low quality, hardly modernized versions, people will think I'm even more of a freak of nature. Whats so interesting about a greyscale Tamagotchi that you "bump" against another one? If they had known about the P's and iDL's, they might think it's a lot cooler to own a Tamagotchi. Or am I just making up stuff here? I don't know.

- Shell looks a lot like the iDL -

I think that after being such fans for over a decade, we as Europeans deserved better than this. I'm sure there will be fans out there that will go crazy over this one. Will I get two? Maybe. If the prices go down or if I find another reason I should have them. For now, I'm crazy about my iDL and my upcoming P.

I've also heard a lot of people who own one complain that they come out of the box with scratches, the silver faceplate wears off quickly and they find it hard to see what's on the screen since it has no backlight. Even after adjusting the brightness.

I think it's fine for little kids, but for the more experienced Tama-fan I don't feel it does the trick. Do you feel otherwise? Please leave a comment below with your opinion.

- Video from my favourite Tamagotchi unboxer on YouTube AtlanticRaven -