80% FUNDED

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

What better way to show you care than beating your special rival with a custom fighting top?

It's been a massive few days, with the project 80% funded, thanks to all your ongoing support. I guess that makes you all my Valentines this year!

We have 2 weeks left to raise our final 20% and I'm hopeful we can organise some neat stretch goals going forward, to thank you all for spreading the word. Sharing the project now might just get us over the line early.

Visit the Silver Shell Kickstarter

This is the direct link:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/446...hting-tops

PS: did anyone else notice the behaviour of the shells in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX_SUlXkJ-o]JoJo's video[/url]? Her shells both use the "performance" spin tip, which is a bit like a metal-ball but flatter at its point. It's special because the diameter of the ball increases when the shell banks or tilts over (like during a launch or when it takes a hit). This increased friction means you can "perform" very accurate launches (such as sliding-shoot) and typical flower-patterns without the sacrifice of the normal flat tip to reduce overall spin time.

PPS: You'll also see how custom design is so important. JoJo used Dragon in left-spin and basically forced a double KO every time. But if she had taken apart the shell and reversed the direction of the blades then she'd have a perfect left-spin aggressor. Maybe she'll try that next? I really enjoyed that video - almost forgot the shells were my own design!

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I , K1d, think I just made the very FIRST silver shell mod in history, If you flip the center screw and bolt upside down (The spin tip on the top) it'll be super aggressive.
(Disclaimer, not sure if this is a mod, or some next level customizing)

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Give me all the bread

I'm so happy for you!! I love silvershells now im like obsessed with them now thanks to jojo

Just realized, if the new chouzetsu series is all metal, silver shell might stand up to them

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Give me all the bread

I , K1d, think I just made the very FIRST silver shell mod in history, If you flip the center screw and bolt upside down (The spin tip on the top) it'll be super aggressive. (Disclaimer, not sure if this is a mod, or some next level customizing)

Not sure either, but it's awesome! Yes, the core bolt head becomes a kind of ball-hole-flat. That, plus the components in the Power Unit, gives you at least three spin tips (grips) right off the bat. Pretty cool!

Speaking of mods, check this new video out:

Visit the Silver Shell Kickstarter

I'm so happy for you!! I love silvershells now im like obsessed with them now  thanks to jojo

Yeah JoJo rocks! It's so cool that you came here via her channel. Anyone who missed the video (on the previous page) can find it here.

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After seeing JoJo's video I was thinking how to solve that loose nut(s) "problem" and the simplest way could thing of is to spray nuts and/or metal parts with shoe impregnation spay to increase friction between the nut and metal parts. Washers and screw lock lacquer are effective soutions but it's a bit to impractical and messy in my opinion. :P

On second thought if you spray paint central bolt, that ball tip could get a lot more friction and increase overall speed of the shell. :D

After seeing JoJo's video I was thinking how to solve that loose nut(s) "problem" and the simplest way could thing of is to spray nuts and/or metal parts with shoe impregnation spay to increase friction between the nut and metal parts. Washers and screw lock lacquer are effective soutions but it's a bit to impractical and messy in my opinion.

Nuts and bolts won't come loose if you tighten them using the included tools - see how JoJo uses her fingers in the video? The best way to tighten bolts, including the core, is to use the spanner and key at the same time. I've fast-forwarded to the exact demo here: https://youtu.be/gYlk3smARYY?t=6m56s

Or you can just watch it here and skip to 6:56...

On second thought if you spray paint central bolt, that ball tip could get a lot more friction and increase overall speed of the shell.

Yup. Likewise if you apply grease or oil (forehead oil is surprisingly effective, and gross) you can reduce the friction and increase spin time. I've made them specially so that adding your own unique touches (like paint or homemade parts) is super easy.

Can you imagine them in metallic red? Yes please.

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I thought she used provided tools, but then again it all depends on how strong you tighten nuts and bolts. I guess it's a personal preference.

Will there be more colours of the shells in the near future? I love the concept but I find the colour scheme a bit bland.

Will there be more colours of the shells in the near future? I love the concept but I find the colour scheme a bit bland.

What colours would you like to see? If we reach our funding goal, I might be able to work something out.

The current "engraved" finished (which is not paint) is super easy to paint yourself. All the parts are laser-cut in 2D so they're really easy to spray paint when you take the shell apart. But if everyone wants paint, we'll just need to fund the project first - and we are REALLY CLOSE, guys. Just few more pledges and we'll be there, so please:

Visit the Silver Shell Kickstarter

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--- HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR ---

Did you know each Silver Shell kit is inspired by ancient Chinese deities?

As one of the Chinese Sì Xiàng, Raptor is the symbol of Summer, Fire and the South. Our southern hemisphere backers will be very familiar with this one by now, at the height of their Summer heatwaves.

The ubiquitous Dragon is well known for its place in the East, the symbol of Spring and regrowth. Our backers in the northern hemisphere will be looking forward to this one at the end of the campaign.

The mysterious Crypto, from the tortoise suborder "cryptodira", is otherwise known as Xuan Wu (Genbu in Japan), the Black Warrior of the North and symbol of Winter and time. Luckily, our Australian backers will be receiving their rewards before Xuan Wu arrives this year.

Traditional beigoma (shell spinning tops) emerged in Japan about 800 years ago, after the introduction of spinning tops from China. The influence of Chinese and Japanese culture on modern fighting top sports cannot be understated. Silver Shell is true to these origins. So it seems fitting for me to wish you all a happy Chinese New Year!

Visit the Silver Shell Kickstarter

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--- HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR ---

Did you know each Silver Shell kit is inspired by ancient Chinese deities?

As one of the Chinese Sì Xiàng, Raptor is the symbol of Summer, Fire and the South. Our southern hemisphere backers will be very familiar with this one by now, at the height of their Summer heatwaves.

The ubiquitous Dragon is well known for its place in the East, the symbol of Spring and regrowth. Our backers in the northern hemisphere will be looking forward to this one at the end of the campaign.

The mysterious Crypto, from the tortoise suborder "cryptodira", is otherwise known as Xuan Wu (Genbu in Japan), the Black Warrior of the North and symbol of Winter and time. Luckily, our Australian backers will be receiving their rewards before Xuan Wu arrives this year.

Traditional beigoma (shell spinning tops) emerged in Japan about 800 years ago, after the introduction of spinning tops from China. The influence of Chinese and Japanese culture on modern fighting top sports cannot be understated. Silver Shell is true to these origins. So it seems fitting for me to wish you all a happy Chinese New Year!

Visit the Silver Shell Kickstarter

The little backstory was cool, you should include little cards with the Story about the shell's inspiration with the shells

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Give me all the bread

The little backstory was cool, you should include little cards with the Story about the shell's inspiration with the shells

That's a great idea! The packaging does come with a card (with instructions and safety info) so it'd be easy enough. JoJo didn't get any packaging with hers because I really need to fund the Kickstarter before I can pay for the printing.

Man, I really hope we raise those funds now.

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Did you know each Silver Shell kit is inspired by ancient Chinese deities?

As one of the Chinese Sì Xiàng, Raptor is the symbol of Summer, Fire and the South. Our southern hemisphere backers will be very familiar with this one by now, at the height of their Summer heatwaves.

The ubiquitous Dragon is well known for its place in the East, the symbol of Spring and regrowth. Our backers in the northern hemisphere will be looking forward to this one at the end of the campaign.

The mysterious Crypto, from the tortoise suborder "cryptodira", is otherwise known as Xuan Wu (Genbu in Japan), the Black Warrior of the North and symbol of Winter and time. Luckily, our Australian backers will be receiving their rewards before Xuan Wu arrives this year.[/button]

Or as the Japanese know them as: Suzaku, Seiryuu, and Genbu (the last you mentioned). These three are the inspiration and Japanese names of the Bit Beasts of Dranzer, Dragoon, and Draciel of the original Beyblade series. You'll find the influences of the four beasts in many anime and video games.

So that means Byakko/Driger was left out of the bunch, which is kind of odd considering that Driger was the endurance type, but maybe that's just how I remember it and see it.

Still, cool and interesting ties all the same.  :) I'm new but am poking through the posts to learn more about Silver Shells, very interesting.

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[[ Michigan Blader | Avatar photo by Ivan Kislov ]]

Or as the Japanese know them as: Suzaku, Seiryuu, and Genbu (the last you mentioned). These three are the inspiration and Japanese names of the Bit Beasts of Dranzer, Dragoon, and Draciel of the original Beyblade series. You'll find the influences of the four beasts in many anime and video games.

Can you tell Genbu is my favourite Beyblade? The whole idea of Genbu is just off the chain.

So that means Byakko/Driger was left out of the bunch, which is kind of odd considering that Driger was the endurance type, but maybe that's just how I remember it and see it.

Glad you noticed! Driger is kind of based on the mythical Quilin which is essentially all the other creatures combined. See what I did there? I'm patting myself on the back right now. The combination creature is what you get when you combine all the other kits to make your own.

Still, cool and interesting ties all the same.   I'm new but am poking through the posts to learn more about Silver Shells, very interesting.

Awesome! It's been years of hard work and battles to get to this point - hope you enjoy!

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New pledges?

So guys, the campaign's been running for a week now. We all have a pretty good idea what Silver Shell is about and how it works.

Now I'm wondering if there's anything else you'd like to see in the campaign...

New pledges?

Different options?

Something else entirely?

Now's the time to let me know, so I can work what you want into the campaign. Some of you have already contacted me with suggestions and I'd really appreciate if you could post your suggestions here, so others can back you up. This way I can get my priorities sorted. Thanks again everyone for supporting the project!

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Or as the Japanese know them as: Suzaku, Seiryuu, and Genbu (the last you mentioned). These three are the inspiration and Japanese names of the Bit Beasts of Dranzer, Dragoon, and Draciel of the original Beyblade series. You'll find the influences of the four beasts in many anime and video games.

Can you tell Genbu is my favourite Beyblade? The whole idea of Genbu is just off the chain.

So that means Byakko/Driger was left out of the bunch, which is kind of odd considering that Driger was the endurance type, but maybe that's just how I remember it and see it.

Glad you noticed! Driger is kind of based on the mythical Quilin which is essentially all the other creatures combined. See what I did there? I'm patting myself on the back right now. The combination creature is what you get when you combine all the other kits to make your own.

Still, cool and interesting ties all the same.   I'm new but am poking through the posts to learn more about Silver Shells, very interesting.

Awesome! It's been years of hard work and battles to get to this point - hope you enjoy!

Yeah, its odd that there isn't a Driger-inspired Silver Shell. Driger is actually a White Tiger, you should make a white tiger-themed silver shell. Driger looks nothing like quilin, its actually a white tiger. That I need to point out.

New pledges?

So guys, the campaign's been running for a week now. We all have a pretty good idea what Silver Shell is about and how it works.

Now I'm wondering if there's anything else you'd like to see in the campaign...

New pledges?

Different options?

Something else entirely?

Now's the time to let me know, so I can work what you want into the campaign. Some of you have already contacted me with suggestions and I'd really appreciate if you could post your suggestions here, so others can back you up. This way I can get my priorities sorted. Thanks again everyone for supporting the project!

I'd like to see

Upgrade packs: A pack of parts that can be used to upgrade your shell.

The card thing I mentioned

The nylon attack tip

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Give me all the bread

Limited edition recolor shell for high donors?

Limited edition recolor shell for high donors?

Yes, so much yes

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Give me all the bread

Something I'd like to see would be sticker sheets made for the Shells. I imagine each piece of the shell could have a sticker attributed to it, and perhaps each sheet could include variants of the designs for the customization?

For example, the video you just posted of the Raptor customization could have a sticker set attributed to the U-shaped design, a set attributed to the normal, Dranzer-like design, and two other sets for the other intended designs.

I'd be willing to send you a couple mock-ups for the sticker designs via Facebook if you're interested.

Really cool suggestions, thanks guys! All of these can be done to some extent (some dependent on funding) and a few can probably even be combined. So going forward, we're thinking:

• Limited Edition recolors
  
  
• Upgrade packs (including spin tip upgrades)
  
  
• Included backstories
  

Just on that last point:

Yeah, its odd that there isn't a Driger-inspired Silver Shell. Driger is actually a White Tiger, you should make a white tiger-themed silver shell. Driger looks nothing like quilin, its actually a white tiger. That I need to point out.

You're right! The tiger is a pretty recent addition to Chinese symbology, and the version which made it to Japan to inspire Beyblade. Its cosmological "direction" in the West used to be occupied by a Quilin type creature (or a host of other creatures with weird different names depending on which year in history you read from) which became a tiger in certain regions of China essentially because a tiger just makes way more sense. See, when the Taoists showed up in China, all that "multi-headed demon" Indian mythology inherited from Greece got transplanted... History is weird. But I mean, sure I could make a Driger-inspired shell if you reckon you'd pledge for it. That's fair.

Also I did a new video, Raptor tear-down:

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Something I'd like to see would be sticker sheets made for the Shells. I imagine each piece of the shell could have a sticker attributed to it, and perhaps each sheet could include variants of the designs for the customization?

For example, the video you just posted of the Raptor customization could have a sticker set attributed to the U-shaped design, a set attributed to the normal, Dranzer-like design, and two other sets for the other intended designs.

I'd be willing to send you a couple mock-ups for the sticker designs via Facebook if you're interested.

This sounds pretty awesome - I'll PM you in a bit. Probably hook you up with some templates. Still gotta eat breakfast and it's 1pm over here!

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You could make a official stadium or arena for the silver shells maybe? You could then make a set with two shells and the stadium.

One simple color modification could be just changing those nuts and bolts to some anodized ones ( https://sc01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1TR3iHpXXX...XFXXX9.jpg ). I suppose price wont change significantly (if at all) since these are common stuff nowdays.

Also since I am more of a collector than player and this will be first edition/batch of this tops maybe you could laser engrave "SILVER SHELL" or "FE" (first edition not ferrum :P) to that central "I" shaped part. All parts are laser cut so I suppose this could be done with the same machine. In that scenario laser engraving patterns onto the parts could be possibility.

Third idea is to make modifying parts in cheaper materials (acrylic, polycarbonate, ABS...) to reduce cost and make some smaller pledges possible. Potentional players could get sence of what this system is capable of and make future investments when possible.

And last idea is to make spray (scale model) paint stencils with some crazy patterns. These are easily done with exacto knife and printer. :)

You could make a official stadium or arena for the  silver shells maybe? You could then make a set with two shells and the stadium.

Nice! I do love the idea of a set.

One simple color modification could be just changing those nuts and bolts to some anodized ones. I suppose price wont change significantly (if at all) since these are common stuff nowdays.
...
Third idea is to make modifying parts in cheaper materials (acrylic, polycarbonate, ABS...) to reduce cost and make some smaller pledges possible. Potentional players could get sence of what this system is capable of and make future investments when possible.

You'd probably be surprised. I can't anodise stainless and I can only source different materials in bulk from China - which carries an additional risk for a KS project. So a plastic or aluminium part would ultimately cost slightly more than the stainless steel made locally, taking logistics into account. With that in mind, all the hardware in a single shell is actually more expensive than any other part of the shell already. I feel like there might be a simpler way...

Also since I am more of a collector than player and this will be first edition/batch of this tops maybe you could laser engrave "SILVER SHELL" or "FE" (first edition not ferrum ) to that central "I" shaped part. All parts are laser cut so I suppose this could be done with the same machine. In that scenario laser engraving patterns onto the parts could be possibility. And last idea is to make spray (scale model) paint stencils with some crazy patterns. These are easily done with exacto knife and printer.

You're ideas are always great, model850. I'm Currently working on how to achieve something like this (bearing in mind the timeframe) but I've got a few options lined up to test. I'm kind of surprised more people aren't keen to paint their own...?

LOOK! MORE CUSTOMS!

We are SO CLOSE to funding this thing guys! Only 10 days to go and just $300 to fund the project! If you were thinking of pledging late or getting friends/parents to pledge with you, now is the time! We can do this!

Visit the Silver Shell Kickstarter

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