Power Watchz Micro Racer

Now, in the world of watches, you can get all sorts of different non-time telling features. Today's is one of the more silly of those!

Today's blog watch is called the Power Watchz Micro Racer. It has a normal basic 4 digit LCD, and a buttons to switch between the time, date, and seconds display, and to set the time.

There are also two other buttons on the right corners with arrows showing on them, but these are for the extra attachment on the strap - a remote control car! Once the car has been taken off the strap, and the power buttons on car and watch have been turned on, you have a fully working remote control car. The buttons on the watch move the car forwards or backwards while turning (and it goes at quite a speed). At the bottom of the watch, there is a select button which sets one of 4 channels, so you can race with up to 4 friends at the same time. One site I found stated that this was the World's Smallest Watch Controlled Car!

The watch is made in China, but I can't find any more details about it's manufacturer.

Takara Watch-Q Take Off Dash Car 300ZX

On this fine Sunday, I thought I'd share another of my transforming watches. But this time it's not a robot!
The watch is part of the Watch-Q line of watches by Takara. The Watch-Q range, also known as Kronoform in the west, was released by Takara in 1983/84 and sold their transforming watches. As part of the line, they had a couple of non-robots in the form of a gun, an aeroplane, a stereo, and two types of car.

This one is modelled on the Nissan Fairlady Z 300ZX which was a Nissan sports car released in 1983. It looks like a special version of the 300ZX Z31 which came out to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Nissan in 1984, and this also fits the 1984 release date of the watch. The watch came in 3 colours, blue, black, and red.

The head of the watch is a mount for the toy car which sits although it's about to drive up your wrist. Time is displayed on a small LCD screen inside the car's windscreen, with 4 digits staggered so the hour digits are in the top left, and minutes in the bottom right. To change the time, you need to use the pin accessory to access the buttons through two small holes in the underside of the car. One button is used to change the display mode between the time, date, and seconds (although it's a bit fiddly for everyday use). The other button sets the time and date (but you should cycle through the mode button after setting to make sure the time starts).

To get the car off the holder without damage, you should push it to the right (with the short end of the strap at the top), and then lift the left side first. When taken off, the car has a small pull-back and go engine. The car model is quite detailed,with the car name on the back bumper, and the rubber tyres even say 'Goodyear GT radial' on the side.

The watch originally cost 2,800 yen when it was released in 1984.