Gshocker's Toys

Baseball Shops in Japan

Last year when I was in Japan I decided it would be cool to grab a Japanese brand baseball glove from Japan. Of course I also wanted one actually made in Japan as that seemed better then just getting one made in China or somewhere else with a Japanese label on it.

I found a shop in Tokyo that seemed like it was findable and thought I would start there. It seemed easy enough to find from the Maranochi line. Honestly I had never gotten off at the stop that it was at but based on the map on their page it looked close to the station.

This store was pretty small but being in the heart of Tokyo I would imagine the space was not cheap. It was also crammed full of goodies. Certainly a higher end shop where they seemed to cater to the mid to high end gear.

Upon entering the shop I was greeted by what I can only describe as a baseball heaven. Looking in to the right there was the largest assortment of gloves that I had ever seen. Full range of models even the high end lines of these companies were well represented.

I honestly do not even know the name of this pace (could be Sugai51). If you are in the Tokyo area I suggest paying it a visit. The shop owner seemed very friendly and with help from my wife I was able to select a few items to look over. They had all the major Japanese brands and everything to fully outfit yourself.

Another shop that I hit while in Tokyo was a bit further out of the city. This one called Swallow Sports had a nice showroom which was not too far from the train station. They seem to do much more mail order business than walk in but it was fun to look around their showroom as well. They also had a great selection of gloves and gear.

On this trip to Japan I ended up with a Zeems Pro II 800G outfield glove. I had not had enough time to do much research but the glove felt good on the hand (needed much breaking in). I also grabbed a Zeems ESP II 688 infield glove (still working on this one). Both are great gloves and the outfield glove which I use most often is really getting worked in well. both gloves were purchased at Sugai51.

That was the extent of my baseball shopping last year in Japan. This year my wife was headed back to visit family so I had a chance to do some more research into some new gear. My next post will go into some of the new things I learned.

Baseball Gloves in Japan

Last year when I was in Tokyo I picked up two new ball gloves. Now not speaking the language it as a little harder than I thought it would be. After using them for about a year now I have learned a bit more and gotten the chance to pickup another one (knowing a bit more about what is going on this time).

I thought it might be interesting to make a blog posting about what goes into purchasing a glove in Japan and all of the different brands and options that you will see over there. It is honestly mind boggling.

I hope to have the first part up this week so look out for that posting. I had been using a Zeems outfielders glove which is great.. My newest glove is a Kubota Slugger which is simply amazing....

Back with an N97

It has been a while since I updated but FINALLY I am back. I tried wordpress while I was away and seem to be drawn back here for some reason. Well along the way I picked up a nice new Nokia N97 phone to play with.

This phone is the best Nokia N series device that I have ever used. I can see though that this will not be able to compete with the new Palm Pre or iPhone for customers in the US. With no subsidy the price tag is a bit high for most people who are looking for a smartphone. The user interface is just like S60.. ok it is S60 but they have not really changed on it since my N95. So here it is.. the good and the bad -

GOOD -
1. Camera - 5 megapixel goodness. Decent low light shooting and auto focus which is quite nice. Lots of options to keep you busy. Pretty impressive for a phone.

2. Keyboard - I have missed a physical keyboard. I can type pretty well on the iPhone but having keys is nice again. The big complaint of most is the space bar on the right hand side of the phone but honestly that took me all of 5 minutes to get used to.

3. Multi-Tasking - HEY APPLE.. push notifications are ok but that is not replacement for true multi-tasking. Running an IM is actually do-able on a phone like this. Order has been restored to my IM life away from a computer.

5 . Screen - sharp and clear. The screen is more sensative than the 5800 that I had been using. Almost like a capasative screen.

BAD .. yes there is bad.

1. Interface - while it is not a problem at all for me since I am used to S60 the interface is a bit dated. A new user would not have an easy time figuring out where everything is.. The newer more modern devices like the iPhone and Pre have a much more user friendly interface and this give a casual user a better experiance. For a power user the customazation that is available with S60 is amazing.

2. OVI Store - ok the concept is good but so far the execution seems a bit off. There isn't the clean interface and eaasy to use feel to this one. And well.. the apps are all crammed into random categories so as things get added it is going to get harder and harder to find things pretty quick. As this grows they really need to break things down to categories to make it easier to find what you want.

3. Price - There is not much that Nokia can do in the US about this. No carriers mean no price breaks. Granted for an unlocked phone with this feature set it is not terrible but not many users who are not Nokia fans will grab this one.

I have only had the phone for about a week now so I may have more comments as I use it more but for now at least for me it is a keeper.

Out for a ride

Blocked at every turn?

Looks like Cox is going to join in the fun of blocking or slowing certain things that we the internet users love to do. Cox is currently testing some new network management tools that are going to be frustrating many users of their service.

Internet traffic will now be divided into two categories. Time sensitive and non- timesensitive. Now the time sensitive services will go thru as always. These include - Web, VOIP, E-mail, IM, Streaming media, Games, VPN etc.. The problem comes into focus with the services that have been placed in that non timesensitive realm.. Things like FTP, Network storage transfers, P2P, software updates and usenet.

Cox is saying that these rules will only kick in when the network gets busy but how are you going to know that when you sit down to update you OS and get some web site work done using FTP.

It will be interesting to see how their tests of this awesome service go as it could effect all services eventually. Please let it fail....

*Lots of talk all over the net about this one. Facts grabbed from Cnet amoung other places.

New Swallows Uni

Looks like the Yakult Swallows are getting some new uniforms for the new season. Not sure this is going to help them but they do look nice. They also unveiled a new slogan which is somewhat amusing - "Just Play to Win" . Seems most japanese teams have a slogan each year.. And yes they all do seem a bit strange. Check out theSwallows Blog to get more info.

Where is the Dell XPS line going?

Well I am not a huge fan of Dell but we needed a new laptop for our business and have an account with Dell so I took a look. First thought was hey.. maybe I will get something interesting and do the hand me down trickle effect.. After looking over what had become of the XPS line I was a bit dissapointed with what I saw.

Dell seems to be veering away from game units with the XPS line and turning that part of the market over to their other company Alienware. Now personally I think it is hard for them to compete with Alienware's image and specs in the game market but they had made a big announcement after getting Alienware that they would not be killing off the XPS line.

Why do I think this.. Well the XPS 17" is offering the Nvidia 8800 as the best they have. Even Alienware who I thought was a bit slow to change over to the 9 series cards has them now. Also there will be no 64 bit OS for the Dell. and the FSB is not the current faster 1066 which many Big Box store machines even have now.

Seem to me that Dell has moved the XPS line into more of the stylish laptop line and low end game systems. I certainly hope that I am wrong and we see a new 17" XPS game unit but I would have thought that we would see this by now. Too bad as competition in this area is always good.

Achievement Unlocked?

Not an easy one but must be worth lots of points...

Snow Camping

Heading into the mountains for some snow camping.

Green Apple Soda

Grabbed this interesting Fanta Green Apple Soda. Much better flavor than the Hawaiian Pepsi I had in Tokyo over the summer. This drink does taste like a green apple. Certainly a drink I would have again.