QueerRudie Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 So after seeing a previous topic on model marble rollercoasters, I did a little bit of websurfing to find www.karakuricorner.com a website dedicated to hard-to-find Japanese collectibles, toys and assorted other items. There, one can find those scary looking plastic robots etc. but to some fans of Spacewarp they have three models available- Spacewarp Start is the equivalent of the old Set 10. Basic, same concept, but with a few new parts designed in. Spacewarp 5000 is the equal to the old set 20, although this one appears to be a bit larger and longer. Spacewarp 10000 is the largest of the sets I could find. It's a larger version of the set 30- signifigantly larger- and has quite a bit more track and structure. I'm looking forward to assembling my set 10000 next week. Needless to say I'm highly excited about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECZenith Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 Are these the ones that even have the spiral lifts to take the balls to the top? I remember having something like that I got from Sears for like my 12th birthday, it was the one toy I never got sick of... Ah, it sucks to get older and throw away all your cool crap. Be sure to show us waht you make out of it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calcajun Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 Cool, I still have a Black Wolf and two set 30's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueerRudie Posted August 20, 2006 Author Share Posted August 20, 2006 Yes, it is in fact the one and only SpaceWarp with the spiral elevator lift hill- which means that the parts inside are in fact similar. I did notice in the video (On the same website) you can see the changes made, including longer tie arms (off the support steel columns) and some revisions to the basic 'elements' such as the see-saw, the turnaround tubes and some of the motor pieces. I'm not quite sure if these are going to require rewiring from Asian standard to US, but I somewhat believe if the pictures are in fact correct that they will not. I do have some ideas for models already brewing- including a few models of existing rides (with some minor technical modifications) such as SpaceMountain Florida (I've always wanted to do a re-creation of this one- ever since 1988!) and a traditional Wild Mouse. I had at one point built a prototype lift hill chain system (out of bent paper clips, no less) and I'm planning on recreating the same thing if possible. My best attempts to find the drawings were fruitless, as I didn't keep them outside of storage. I'll be posting pictures as soon as I get my new 'grown up' toy- SpaceWarp 10000 from Karakuri.com. Enough parts to make any SpaceWarp fan a true master designer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECZenith Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 ^ Yes! That is the best version of this concept of toy that I know of. Very fun to watch, makes for an interesting table piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metrock Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 I will tell you what; it's hard to beat my friends spacewarp model. Its somewhat of a work in progress and not even half way done. Man this thing is fun to play with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 If only Andrew was still around to rekindle his spacewarp madness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMorgan Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 I totally forgot that Spacewarps came with that spiral lift system! I think mine never worked so I just trashed it. I still got many years of enjoyment out of the rest of the kit, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECZenith Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 ^^^ Holy sh*t! That must have cost a lot of time and money to assemble. Is that all one continuous track? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIPDUDE Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 I will tell you what; it's hard to beat my friends spacewarp model. Its somewhat of a work in progress and not even half way done. Man this thing is fun to play with. you know the person who made that?!?! I stumbled across tht on the internet a while back and was shocked and showed my friends! When I saw this thread I immidiatly went to get the link to this picture! Amazing! And you say its not even halfway done yet??? Jeepers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metrock Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 The model is made up of a buch of individual tracks. Note the two seperate towers. Most of the tracks are quite long. New tracks/sections would be added by his friends when they came over. I have a viideo of it operating somewere... Anyways, as far as the cost- Zero. When the company went out of business he acquired boxes full of parts. When he has more space, and time, he wants to make it go around an entire room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparebear75 Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 I found this link as well... http://www.zootoyz.net/en-us/dept_71.html#item_732 The ties look slightly different than the version I had back in the 1990's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueerRudie Posted August 20, 2006 Author Share Posted August 20, 2006 I remember that ACE had an article in RC! magazine that featured a SpaceWarp that covered pretty much an entire house- through the kitchen, down a hall, and a massive section in the middle of the living room. Let me tell you it made my four coasters look pretty puny in respect, but I will say this- I did figure out certain ways to create more unique rides (In my dorm room sophmore year, I used several kits and some very unique ways to build a ride not entirely like the Hoosier Hurricane over my desk and bed- stilts still work quite well when building a ride- esp. one that requires a narrow, high base. Right now I've just acquired a large cork bulletin board to mount the base on for future 'expanded' projects- plus I'm planning on building my spare garage room at home in AZ to become a SpaceWarp room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollermonkey Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 Queue music: Foreigner, "Too Much Time On My Hands" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIPDUDE Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 Queue music: Foreigner, "Too Much Time On My Hands" I think you mean "Cue". Queue is the line you wait in before going on a rollercoaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueerRudie Posted September 2, 2006 Author Share Posted September 2, 2006 IT'S HERE!!!! So, to revive this unique subject- construction has begun. Th kit came today, two plus weeks after shipping (It was back ordered, and the Karakuri people did an EXCELLENT job in letting me know the progress of the order!) and, well, I'm just a bit confused- the instructions are, of course, in perfect Japanesse. Too bad my perfect Japanese is IMPERFECT to say the least... The kit is well packed, and features some SIGNIFIGANT changes off the original kits of yesteryear. BASE PLATES: They're just about the only thing that is the same from the original SpaceWarp kits- same 9x3 support post layouts, but thsi time they're better fit to be snug. Several connector brackets have been included to holdthe baseplates together and to prevent them from popping apart during transport/construction. COLUMNS: Also unchanged, but they feel a bit lighter than what I remember them to be a few yars ago... RAILS: Same soft and pliable plastic, but this time through they're sent as two separate track rails instead of one long bundle of rail. NOTE: YOU MUST HAVE A METRIC RULER/MEASURING TAPE TO BEGIN TO CUT RAIL! SUPPORTS: Here's where one of the biggest changes has occured. Instead of grabbing onto the column like a pressure clamp, you now have a multi piece assembly which 'locks' onto the column tightly- no more slipping down if they'res an intricate element or a loose part. Very cool indeed. CROSSBARS: Where the original had several of those odd shaped crossbars throughout the layout, now the structure has only a few black plastic crossbars for bracing. TIES: Also changed a bit, they're much smaller but fit very nicely on the rails as before. There are fewer of them, but still more than enough for several large projects to be built. LIFT SYSTEM: Also a radical redesgin, the battery pack and motor assembly are now one solid piece built together to create a lift hill. No more re-wiring of the battery to the motor to fail! The lift assembly is also re-designed to build a better mousetrap- better lift clamping and tighter tolerances than the original. CARS: No change here. Same ol' single car operation. BONUS ITEMS: The only real change here is that in the 10000 series there is an odd pendulum item which actually 'blocks' out the 'cars' before sending them down an S&S Flyswatter type mechanism. I'm not too sure if I'm going to keep that in the final design. BLUEPRINTS/PLANS: O.K. Here's the challenging part. The layout has gone some redesgns off the original, including far more crossovers and crosstrack segments. A quadruple looping element is arranged at one end of the ride whereas a single looping element is arranged at the other end. A very large funnel helix is also at one end and several single drop helices have been built as well. The most interesting part of these plans are the fact that the Blueprints are almost ENTIRELY IN JAPANESE. However, they're very well illustrated and very conplete with plenty of confusing layouts and diagrams. Well, here goes everything. I'll be posting updates for construction and testing over the next few days/weeks depending on how well construction goes and how long it takes. Pictures will be posted if I'm able to land a good digital camera soon- hopefully for my other birthday present! R.D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorchedflower Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 I hope you enjoy it... I had one for a present years ago, and the rails were so rigid they could hardly bend into a fathomable track layout, the crossbars were weak and the lift hill didn't work. I was really upset as I was looking forward to it so much It was from some magazine, and we got some other stuff at the same time from it and the other stuff was a bit badly made. So my marble coaster thing was probably not the same make as these. It was damn expensive though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Bumping up this topic as out of the blue, I got one of these Space Warp kits...for the low price of.....$3.99! (This normally sells for $80 or so..my aunt works at a thrift store and the set had come in, all pieces in the box, parts unopened, and instructions all there.) The set I got was the "Black Wolf" coaster and has a ton of track in it. Once I get something going, expect a construction TR. Just messing with it tonight, I did a prototype first drop similar to what you'd find on a B&M - curved drop with banking. Rolled the marble down and it actually stayed on. Can't believe that I overlooked this toy back when this was first posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DenDen Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Queue music: Foreigner, "Too Much Time On My Hands" That's Styx, not Foreigner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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