Radio-controlled talking Davros

I got a buddy for my radio-controlled talking Dalek - a radio-controlled talking Davros, for £19.99. But I'm not allowed to play with it until Christmas.

Radio controlled talking Dalek

I finally got a large radio-controlled talking classic Dalek (as opposed to a new type Dalek); it looked like it was the last one in Forbidden Planet, reduced from £50 to £25. It's marvellous.

Another new synth - Gem S2 Turbo

Shortly after buying the Kawai K1 Mk II - see previous post - I went a bit mad. I'd heard some samples from the Gem S2R, and missed one on eBay which went quite high - but then I saw a Gem S2 Turbo keyboard on eBay. It was listed once without any bids, listed again without any bids, so I made an offer and got it for £100, delivery included.
Good points; it sounds like a Korg M1, a Roland D50 and a Kawai K1 all layered together - every patch on it is like a huge swooshy Klaus Schulze pad. It even has Elka Synthex samples as waveforms. It can import Akai samples and use them as waveforms, it has a built-in sequencer, it has a great keyboard with polyphonic aftertouch, and it's built like a tank.
Bad points - it's filthy, scratched, has one silent key and a crackly output, and it's built like a tank. Also the Turbo upgrade doesn't have the optional RAM chips, so it won't retain uploaded samples, but that's probably easy enough to fix. Once I've tidied it up, I'll have to figure out whether to use it as my master keyboard - polyphonic aftertouch is ideal for controlling the Arturia CS80V software. Of course I'd still rather have had the S2RTurbo module, but those seem to be incredibly rare. Now I must stop buying keyboards...

Another new synth - Kawai K1 Mk II

I used to have a Kawai K1 MkII keyboard, but replaced it a long time ago with a K1R module. Though it's very much a 'poor man's Korg M1', I like the Kawai's sample-and-synthesis sounds. You still can't beat the 2 Moon Sky preset...
The K1R module lacks the K1 Mk2's effects and drums, but they aren't much of a loss. Anyway, having sold most of my classic analogue monosynths, I had some space for keyboards, so I picked up a K1 MkII from eBay for a ridiculously low £50.
I won't get rid of the K1R, though, as it now looks as if I might not have space to set up the K1 Mk II after all - see the next post....

New synth - Oberheim OB12

I just got an Oberheim OB12 from eBay. Not that cheap, £360, but it's in perfect condition, and importantly doesn't have any problem with the display, which often goes wrong.
I was hoping it would replace my sold Elka Synthex, Juno 60, Minimoog, ARP Odyssey and Crumar Spirit, and it does - but it looks like it will replace my Yamaha CS60 too. It has velocity and aftertouch sensitivity, an arpeggiator, a ring modulator, polyphonic portamento and an effects unit; it does the lot. It sounds a little harsh and digital for something that's supposed to be virtual analogue, but so what. Viscount being Italian, the manual's a bit garbled, but I think the Viscount contribution to the design is what's given it the Synthex touch. And it's nice to have so many knobs and sliders to play with. So I think I'll sell the Juno 60 now; then my main keyboards will be the Roland D70, Quasimidi Raven Max and Korg DW8000, plus the Oberheim - I think that should be enough to dominate the world.

New Doctor Who action figures from Character Options, 2009 Dalek Bubble Bath

I'm pleased to have picked up from Forbidden Planet the latest Doctor Who Classic action figure sets from Character Options; the Fourth Doctor Adventure Set, and the second of the Classic Daleks sets. I'm particularly taken with the Saucer Pilot Dalek (the one with the energy collector dish on the back) and with the Fourth Doctor, a very convincing representation of Tom Baker (with a choice of heads). And you can't beat a Dalek with bombs strapped to it. There are more out next month, including another Dalek with a Jon Pertwee figure, so I'll be first in the queue. And I've picked up the Dalek Supreme Bubble Bath... the last one in Forbidden Planet as, Boots and the like don't seem to be stokcing it this year... but I did get the last of last year's black Dalek bubble baths fro Boots for £1.25... and I'm still working on some mods for the first Classic Dalek set. I got some Plastruct and brass tubing to try to fabricate the claw, but it's tricky...

Vintage Years of Airfix and Revell Fairey Rotodyne

Got an excellent book recently - The Vintage Years of Airfix by Roy Cross. Collecting his artwork from the classic years of Airfix model kits, it's a very high quality production and has all my favourite artwork in it, from the Fairey Rotodyne to the DUKW. Published at £35, I got it for £26 from Amazon. I also got the reissue of the Revell kit of the Rotodyne - looking forward to building it, though I still mean to get another couple to do 'What if...?' finishes.