Later than some, but I got myself a JULIE! (Kenji Sawada)
Sport bidding got me in trouble, but I’m sure not unhappy about it!Got my Julie in today from Samuraislot. Not a whole lot of communication from them before it was shipped. Took about a week before I had heard from them, and finally got a tracking notice. If other PachiTallk members hadn’t had good experiences and posted them here, I’d have been concerned.
It was not packed well, but luckily the box was undamaged and had not been tossed around. If it had gotten any rough treatment, it probably would have suffered some damage. It was packed in a smaller box than my other machines have arrived in and was just padded with those commercially made popcorn-in-a-bag pads. You could wiggle the box and just feel the machine literally bouncing around inside with a lot of room to move.The machine was wrapped in saranwrap-like plastic then a layer of bubblewrap and the front had a piece of cardboard wrapped around it for some protection. There were loose balls floating around the box and one of the screws on the transformer had come out. It came with scratch work needed on the front in several areas and I attribute these marks to the packaging. No big deal, just need to work some Novus magic.
It was pretty darn clean, overall, so no complaints there. It did have a bulb out and I called, talked to Jake, and should have a new bulb coming soon.
As mentioned many times, the Julie theme is pretty darn cool with all the sounds, lights, etc. Check out the museum and do a search for Julie if you want to learn more about this machine. It is top-notch!
Lastly, my wife was looking at the machine and was really excited to see one of her old idols!!! (This idol was from the 70s when her Dad was stationed in Japan.) Kenji Sawada is the singing-idol from Japan who this machine was named after!His nickname was JULIE as many singers wanted nicknames often from American stars and he liked Julie Andrews – thus the nickname! Profile below. So, now you know exactly how this machine came to be.
You will hear several of his songs being sung as you play! See below:
Kenji Sawada | Profile
Kenji Sawada has been one of Japan’s top entertainers for nearly 40 years, and is a prototype of the seemingly gay male entertainer, the concept of which has long fascinated Japanese. Sawada debuted in 1967 at age 20 as a member of the group sounds band The Tigers. The Tigers were amongst the most popular of the genre, in part because of the dashing good looks of their singer Sawada, and the group scored big hits such as "Kimi Dake ni Ai o (Love Only For You)" and "C,C,C". After The Tigers broke up in 1971, Sawada organized a supergroup of sorts called PYG, with members from The Spiders, The Tempters and The Tigers. The following year he went solo, soon producing big hits with "Yurusarenai Ai" and "Kiken na Futari". He nicknamed himself “Julie” because of his admiration for Julie Andrews, and to this day is often referred as such. Sawada is noted for his flamboyant dress style, abundant make-up, self-confident sparkling persona, and extravagant performances. Amongst his signature moves are throwing his hat during "Katte ni Shiyagare", gulping whiskey and spurting it out in a mist during "Casablanca Dandy", performing "Tokio" while wearing a parachute, and dangling a Snoopy doll from his waist during "Hare Nochi Blue Boy". For first time observers he might seem a cross between Cher and Liberace, and like both of them he has displayed remarkable staying power, having maintained an adoring audience for many years. The media have also called him “the Japanese David Bowie...
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Originally Posted by hanabi
