Comments on: Bandai Spacewarp 5000

By: Bud

Bud — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:01:30 +0000

I have an original Spacerail 10000, but the container that contained the steel balls has been lost, and I’d like to purchase some ball bearings to replace them. Can anyone tell me the diameter of the original steel balls (marbles)?

By: simon

simon — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:18:10 +0000

Hey guys,
Just to say that my theory is this…… I think bandai are selling off their stock (you don’t see much space…WARP now) It was always made in china FOR bandai.
I have a feeling that this company in China has now set it’s self free!! (along with much of that economy!) Obviously that company can’t call it spacewarp becouse of copyright,so that’s why we have spacerail.
As some have said, the thing that is now missing is probably quality controll…….!!
However,if the only BIG difference is that you need to do a bit of trimming of moulding flashes etc, maybe it’s worth it, becouse of its favourable price.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 07:28:28 +0000

I just bought Space Warp 5000. I built it in one evening however my finger tips became quite tender. Even though it is a genuine Space Warp, I’ve found a few (not all, by any means) of the problems people have mentioned previously about SpaceRail. Otherwise it’s been a great fun to build. I remember my father had one when I was a kid (~1995) and I tried to build it but gave up. I’ve considered buying the 10000 but I just found a 15000 level 6 SpaceRail (presumably there’s also a Space Warp somewhere) on ebay.

By: Hans

Hans — Thu, 28 May 2009 21:08:19 +0000

I got me a spacerail 3 today… Built it in one afternoon. was fun. I paid 7 USD for it knowing there was a part missing. andone know where I can ger the elevator worm? I have started making my own worm will see how that pans out. using clay to mold it over a rod then going to sand and coat it with fiberglass resen – the fiberglass…. I may just be hooked going to have to buy the top of the range now.

By: Andre

Andre — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:19:06 +0000

Thanks for the notes, I’m pretty happy with my spacerail I guess after reading your comments. It’s seems like I have the similar isues, I guess they are somewhat similar quality “I think” keeping in mind that spacerail is half the price.

By: Brett Anthony

Brett Anthony — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:21:43 +0000

I also would love to know if the “Space Rail” Chinese knock-off is any good, but I can’t say.

HOWEVER, I do have a BUNCH of old Bandai SpaceWarp which I assemble from time to time, so I am familiar with the assembly issues.

First: Working with the rails: The lengths suggested in the instructions are good, they will leave you with a few extra inches; not much waste but you won’t come up short. As far as the coil stiffness, find some place you can stretch them out (a warm attic is ideal, but who has that…) and leave them that way for a few days. You can also GENTLY warm them with a hair dryer, even loop each strand over a tree limb with a small weight attached to the ends and leave them out in the sun, again, for a few days. HDPE (the type of plastic) has a good memory, but it is rheolastic, a fancy word for saying it will change it’s shape over time.

Second: There is no easy way to assemble this stuff, you have to wrestle with it, fiddle with it, have a ball handy to test each section, give yourself a week or two rather than a week-end. Try not to tell anyone what you are doing, or they will pester you endlessly. (SpaceWarp is universally fascinating).

Third: The ^@&#@! brittle cross-ties. I confess I have considered getting Space Rail just to get more cross-ties, but I’m not sure they would be better. What I HAVE done, with some success, is repair the ones I have. Go to a good hobby shop and get some ultra-thin Cyano Acrilate adhesive. Get the low-odor type, make sure it is suitable for ABS plastic. Go through your cross-ties, GENTLY spreading the two rail clips on each one, and if you see any sign of a crack, add a tiny drop of glue. Once they actually break in two, they are nearly hopeless.

Also: Get a very small flat mill file (an emery board will do) and file the tops of each rail clip on every cross-tie so they don’t have to spread so much when you snap them onto the rail. You can also prevent breakage by sliding all the cross ties onto the rails endwise, but THAT will truly try your patience.

It is actually all worth it. The great fascination with this toy is not the gimmicks, or even the loops. It is the hypnotic randomness of the motion. The goofy flexibility of the rails and framework means that even though it should all be predictable, it isn’t. True, hit the switch, and all the balls rise in line and begin to roll, evenly spaced like soldiers in lock step, going left-right-left-right through the switch and down each predictable course…and then the logical pattern disappears within seconds. Why? Because the momentum of each ball distorts the rails and framework, affecting the motion of all the others. I have never seen any machine that so effectively generates complex random motion.

I have put these things on display at parties and meetings and trade shows. People are universally mesmerized; they all remark how extraodinarily relaxing it is to watch, even for just a minute or two.

By: Andre

Andre — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 03:10:51 +0000

I have two Spacerail Lvl5 and i’m dying to find out the difference, “is the price worth it?” My motors in the Spacerail are noisy and has a inconsistent sound they spool up and down, the rod are very thin gauge they bend very easy, and that’s if there not already slightly warp out of the box. The Rotating mechanism is not very consistent, the 2nd doesn’t work at all I was lucky to have one that worked.
I’m thinking of ordering a SpaceWarp out curiousity,
I would like to built x8 together.
see below my Spacrail…

By: tonto

tonto — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:03:13 +0000

is the spacerail any good ? the spacewarp is about twice as much with shipping

By: CJ Holmes

CJ Holmes — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 06:01:14 +0000

Does anybody know if crossties are available in bulk? I have a couple old Spacewarp 20′s and have been going through the old brittle crossties like sunflower seeds. I’m actually at the point where I’m ready to recast some in vinyl just to keep my addiction fed. My goal is a Spacewarp 1,000,000, running for miles and miles and miles and driving me utterly crazy, so I’m gonna need LOTS of crossties! LOTS and LOTS I tell you!!! MUAH HA HA HA HA!!!!

By: Chip

Chip — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 12:04:52 +0000

I’m 30 years old, and had the pleasure of seeing one of the older model spacewarps in action when I was a *young* kiddo’. Of course, they were tougher to find new then, so I’ve never (until now) had the pleasure of building one myself. What a great throwback! Ooh, and look up Spacewarp on wikipedia.org for a bit more info…

Question: I’ve seen a bunch of remarks about measuring the length of rails before cutting on this thread, and thought I’d ask for one more possibly salient detail before I start chopping away. With the 5000 set, how much rail is left over once you’ve finished building, when you use the provided measurements exactly/build it without measuring at all? Does Bandai give you any extra to work with?

Thanks for the feedback, and happy spacewarping!