We finally bought this vintage Godzilla toilet paper holder (ゴジラ ペーパーホルダー) from the comic shop on 33th street today. I have seen this used bathroom accessory in the same shop long time ago, it was the center piece in a glass shelf right next to the cashier. However, it wasn’t the most desired toy in the shop because the label on the box claimed the sound was broken. A toilet paper holder that makes Godzilla sound? It got the physical-computing side of me all fired up.
After battling my impulsive buying spree for a brief moment, I decided to do some research first, mostly to make sure that I have a clear idea to repair the broken sound and bring it back to its full glory. Based on my research, the one I saw is the original Godzilla paper holder made in 1988. The electronics used to play the sound is in fact a motorized mini vinyl record player! There is a newer version came out few years later with IC chip instead of the record player. I was really impressed by this paper holder because it has some extraordinary guts inside but just like a million other toys and games that I follow, all the findings went into the “Wanted folder” and I forgot about it.
Today was our semi annual dental check-up and the hospital was just cross the street from the comic shop. We decided to give it a shot. It wasn’t in the glass shelf. Somehow I had this gut feeling that she might be moved to the back shelf and that is where we found it! We asked to check the condition of the actual object. The plastic and metal are in mint condition. We bought it right away and the project had started!
The first thing I did was to put the battery in and test it. The sound sure didn’t work but I did hear some motor sound. That is always a good sign because old motorized toys usually have rusty gears with enormous frictions, so cleaning and oiling will fix the problem. I shook gently and the sound started to come out but in broken pieces. That was an even better sign, especially when it is a motorized mechanism, somethings must be displaced inside.
The sound module is made of two parts, one is the motorized player and the other is a speaker cap that covers up the playhead and the vinyl record. When speaker cap is closed, there is a rubber film underneath the speaker that presses against the playhead needle, and that is how the sound comes out. When I opened the Godzilla, I realized that the speaker cap had fallen off. That was why the sound was inconsistent, because the rubber film barely touched the playhead. I put them back together carefully, and it works again! As a physical computer enthusiast, finding beautiful mechanism in the most unexpected places is exciting and rewarding. I read some Japanese blogs about the record player but there were no pictures to be found. Seeing it for the first time, it is really beautifully made, and really tiny.
I took everything apart and cleaned them dearly. There are traces of three thick sponge strip taped on the spindle but the original sponges are already detelerated over time. These sponges play an important role for this paper holder to work. The switch to trigger the sound is in the left arm and in order to pull the switch, the spindle has to roll. Those sponges create friction between the spindle and the paper roll so that when people pull the paper, the rotating spindle will pull the switch.
