Saturday, April 01, 2006

First off, I would like to apologize for my absense. Unfortunately, illness struck me but HARD, and I've been quite ill for the past 5 weeks. -.-;; Now that I'm FINALLY feeling myself again, let's get back to business, okay? ^_^

Last time, I promised we'd take a look at that Star locket (per popular demand). I've never let ya down before, and I'm not about to now!!! So, without further talkin' here's that star locket!

What it looks like: Well, here we have a fairly nice box. Small enough to fit the locket, and with very few images of the scouts on the sides. Generally, you'll see this in either Japanese, or Chinese. Sometimes, I've even heard you can find it in Korean. The basics? They're all pretty much the same. Upon opening the box, you'll see the locket attached to a rather cheap chain. It's just small enough to fit barely over my head, so it's obvious this was not meant for adults. ^_^ (Sorry, I HAD to try!) It's shiney, and quite adorable. When you pop that plastic painted top, you'll see that familiar moon, in a circle, ready to go around. On the back, you'll see a very basic music box wind up to get this puppy started!

What it sounds like: Upon winding this very carefully, you'll hear the lockets song playing. At first, it plays rather fast.. as with most music boxes. And then, as it slows down, it becomes a bit more familiar. The sound quality is about as good as it gets for a music box. :P

What it does: No brainer here! That little moon goes around and around, until you close the top. At which then, the music stops as well. You can clearly see that the moon is glued to the rather cheaply looking pink circle in the center. Nothing really spectacular.

So, all in all, very very short summary. But, short doesn't always mean bad, right? EHH!! wrong. I paid $4.00 for mine. Incidentally, I got what I paid for. Mine was brand new, mint in box, etc. This piece is really lacking. Although, the locket really didn't have too much going for it to begin with. The flaws are numerous, starting from the basic wind up in the back. Not that I'm all for batteries.. but, it winds up in a few winds, leaving children far too much room to break it before they get a chance to hear it. If you've ever wound a clock too tight, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

The appearance of this piece really is lacking as well. Though, it DOES look like the cartoon version, they could have done so much better with this piece! A nice light when you open it, maybe even better means of moving it.. and a small battery might have been better.

All in all, my daughter gives this a 3 out of 10 whopping stars. It's not much fun to have, unless you're using it to cosplay. If you're looking to obtain this item, watch out!! People are insanely bidding in the 3 digit amounts for this!! Don't be dissappointed. We had a HUGE rush of these coming out, there'll be more.

There is ONE locket however, that is WELL worth it!!! And that is the PINK star locket, made by BANDAI Japan (there are a TON of phonies out there!!!). It's VERY rare, and I've only seen ONE myself. Being that, I would be on the lookout to spend a HEFTY amount on that one. Otherwise, I can't see paying more than $9.99 for the others out there. Likely more for the Japanese versions.