úterý 19. února 2019

Intex Nessie


Production years: 1996 - 1998
Dimensions: 196 x 130 cm
Weight: 2.05 kg
Chambers: 2 or 3 depending on the version, body, rear paws,  #2 valves on tail and of top of right rear paw or both rear paws.
Construction: Matte 0.35 mm vinyl, all pinched seams

Description:
Classic round body double ride-on dragon made of thick but very soft smooth matte vinyl.

Interesting facts:
The box says Dragon ride-on however the design in 1996 according to copyrightencyclopedia was registered under the name Nessie ride-on. Also she was advertised in 1997 newsletters as  Nessie ride-on. So she's usually called Intex Nessie.
The prototype on the box has a seam around the neck while the actual ones doesn't.
There was a different version made later by Intex with 4 valves on the front paws and on the neck probably with inner chamber inside the neck too. This version has a blue warning text on the left front paw instead of the black one on the tail. This version is very rare.
1998 toys are usually made of two different vinyl sheets on sides, you can notice a little different pattern on each side of her snout.
Two patterns of paw pattern used digonally.

Production notes:
Intex #58580
The 1996 version has a little softer vinyl and narrow pinched seams (all the same)
The 1998 version has extended pinched seams on negative curves of the back seating areas. However it wasn't really an improvement, the thick inflexible part of the seam tends to overload the vinyl right next to the seam causing leaks.

Repair notes:
Inspect regularly the seams on the negative curves of the seating areas first. In sunny weather you can see through the seam to estimate if it is ok, or needs preventive repair before taking her on water vacation.

Water use:
Adults can comfortable sit on the back seat. The other option is to gently lie on her with your legs behind the rear paws. The middle part is soft enough so you can lie comfortable on her between tail and the neck.

Personal notes:
She was the first one I really dreamed to have and it took me almost a year to find one in spring 2012 on ebay. She was on a long way, came to me from Brazil after four weeks.
On her first birthday next year I talked her that we don't have to deflate now as we had to last year. She became the second one stable inflated here.
I took her to water many times and she's water companion to spend the whole days on water at home, on vacations.. I'm taking her also on winter vacations just to have someone with me smiling in the morning when I wake up.

neděle 17. února 2019

Intex Grumpy Dragon

Production years: 2010 - 2011
Dimensions: 206 x 109 cm
Weight: 1.43 kg
Chambers: 3, body, front paws,  #2 valves on left side of the body behind front paw and on bottom of front paws.
Construction: Glossy 0.30 mm vinyl, all pinched seams

Description:
The last round body double ride-on dragon.

Interesting facts:
At that time it was the first toy with the unusual grumpy supposed looking mouthline instead of the typical smile. However after spending some time together with your dragon you notice him smiling at you sometimes.
Originally called Grumpy Dinosaur but given the pure dragon shape of the body it became known as a Grumpy Dragon.
Also the last year of a classic written warning labels, there are on his belly fitted gently between the pattern into 5 pages.
The last closing seam is the round one that connects the front part with head and paws to the rear part with body, paws and tail. Imagine workers having two hoards of front and rear parts of otherwise finished dragons printed with eyes, mouths, also paws and wings attached. They had to put both parts onto a round electrodes and adjust them the way the distance between left and right paws is the same. They did it correctly however, on some later models you see the seam is not going right angle to the body but the paw distance is still correct and equal on both sides.
Later models may have shorter ears/horns so they look younger.

Production notes:
Intex #56568NP
Later versions are softer; for example code 2011 05 06 is softer than the early one 2010 09 24
No significant changes in seams during the production.

Repair notes:
First place you need to take care of is the seam on the negative curve behind the neck.
Later the negative curve below the snout, eventually the main body seam close to the tail.
It was the early time of NP vinyl, it looks like the welder was not adjusted well, the actual vinyl thickness right next to the seam is about 0.1 mm so be gentle to your dragon.

Water use:
Adults can sit with legs between front and rear paws or lie on with legs behind rear paws. That gives you very comfortable position with great stability in water even in waves while you can move pretty fast as you can swim freely.
The body is shorter than on the Happy dragon which may be not enough for everyone however the tail design gives you more freedom when swimming on him fast. When you are less than 180 cm you make a great couple in water. Dragon is your head and you are his rear paws.

Personal notes:
The first dragon/animal inflatable I took on water with me. I was very shy but he helped me really a lot. Especially his design. He is not a typical toy, he is decent looking dragon also for adults given his not typically smiling face.
He was the third dragon I got. When I saw him I wasn't much sure if I will like him, he looked like a head connected to the tail given its two main parts construction. I got him locally very early, in few days since I saw him first. I was inflating him and it took quite longer to become to be used to each other but he always filled the room with very unique atmosphere. I spent a few days reading book lying on him.
During the time I started to like him more and more. He needed a lot of repairs but the extra time spent together learning how to do the repairs really helped.
He was also the first toy I took with me when visiting my friends inflatable collectors for the first time. It was a very big change too. I became less shy taking about about this hobby and I felt much happier knowing I'm not alone.
And also he was the first one who became stable inflated in my room shortly after, since the first day of the year 2013.

Intex Happy Dragon


Production years: 2005 - 2007
Dimensions: 198 x 107 x 84 cm
Weight: 1.62 kg
Chambers: 3, body, front paws,  #2 valves on tail and bottom of front paws.
Construction: Glossy 0.30 mm vinyl, all pinched seams

Description:
Classic round body double ride-on dragon.

Interesting facts:
The detailed snout print includes 14 freckles.
Head and tail chambers, welded to the body in the end due to the length, are rotated a bit so the X seam connection becomes into two T seams next to each other.
The dragon has only one paw pattern used for them all.

Production notes:
Intex #56533
2005, 2006 versions are significantly softer, including valves. Easy to determine from the picture: main chamber valve is placed lower on the side rather than in the negative tail curve as on the later versions.
2007 are NP versions, less soft. NP on handles, NP suffix in the code number, 2006 printed on the box. E07 code around the valve.
No significant changes in seams during the production.

Repair notes:
First place you need to take care of is the X seam connection behind the neck.
Later the same on the tail and on the front of the neck.
The NP version tend to need more repair of seams.
The early versions loses paint, on the NP the paint holds much better.

Water use:
Adults can sit with legs between front and rear paws or lie on with legs behind rear paws. That gives you very comfortable position with great stability in water even in waves while you can move pretty fast as you can swim freely.

Personal notes:
The first dragon/animal inflatable I got. I bought him because I wanted a dragon but this one was the only big one available locally that time. I didn't know what to expect but after I inflated him for the first time I was instantly impressed so much and felt like a child again. He instantly filled the room with his bright colors and was so giant compared to anything I known of that time.


neděle 25. března 2018

Abandoned Character Play Happy Dragon

They want to rebuild me completely!
With my friend Mediamania we prepare a small project of the standing anthro Happy dragon inflatable to be made. Show your interest here.

Look for the story behind him at https://acphappydragon.blogspot.cz/

sobota 18. března 2017

The Kayak-Nessie is my small dream as an opensource project. You can order her now at Hongiy or use the images to make her at a different manufacturer if you want. drive.google.com/drive/folders…


I just wish I can take her on water soon for better pictures.



inflation:

deflation:

pondělí 17. října 2016

Nové nafukovací fórum

Drak i Nessinka vás zvou na nové fórum o nafukovacích hračkách nafukovaci.boards.net

Pro všechny, kdo mají rádi nafukovací hračky nejen na vodě, ale i ve sbírkách, na výpravách, o hledání, o opravách, zkušenostech, přáních, snech.