i mean... i think he means more practical/optimal batteries, a usb batterypack is pretty smart and easier to use than those small round clockbatteries he showed. And its technically not only batterypower, you can choose to run if off a wallplug
@@eriksimca9409 yeah. I know. I was just being grumpy and picky. And at the same time it could have been titled differently while still maintaining the impact that this one might have had. Given the other in- depth electronics projects we've seen from them I would think that they would have a) presented a custom build rather than an of the shelf product and b) not felt the need to dumb down the title for us. I do also understand that exposing people to simple DIY solutions presented simply is an excellent gateway to further making and personal exploration. Like I say. I was just a bit grumpy. I definitely could have made my comment much more constructive than I did.
These are pretty cool. I normally strip a USB compatible cable, solder it to some LED strips and plug it into a USB adapter. Haven't been able to scale down a connection for smaller projects. Very cool.
I've always said, Hot Toys need to create a wired up torso that uses conductive charging from their own display stands. The soapbox solution is ok, but I couldn't do with those wires personally. What do the batteries in the legs power by the way?
@@adrianedmundson3330 Hot Toys light up features are the most basic and cheapest design you can get. I don't have many figures with light up features and yet I have 2 that had problems. A Batman where the eyes light up but they were broken on arrival. No way to open the head to fix it either. I also had another figure with a big square base that had 2 little LED on the front corners. They didn't work either. That was easy to open and I saw how basic and cheap the wiring and soldering were. It shows that it really is the feature they put the least effort in. I'm at the point where I mod my figures to look good without the lights. I painted the eyes of that Batman with an optic white paint that is just very very white. Now it doesn't look dead without the lights.
Really the battery replacement part should just be spring loaded so I can fit different sizes without spacers. Also can we talk about that figure needing five battery compartments with multiple batteries in each.
I have essentially done my own versions of this for numerous things over the years. It is relatively easy to do (using suitable resistors and a wall-wart or USB supply) I have a display cabinet with a multi-port USB charger doing the same job as the soap reactor then use resistors for the LEDs, battery compartment connectors are either done the way he did if I want them removable or are soldered directly to the contacts. The fine wiring sold for dolls house lighting is the wire I normally use, it comes in white and I normally paint it to blend with the background. USB plugs are savaged from redundant devices or from pound-shop phone charging cables.
If removable, what do you use exactly for the positive/negative ends where it will connect? Solder wires to a brass contact tip for example? I'd be interested in the details.
When it comes down to being able to light hot toys figures the best person I've ever seen and by far the best collection by composition that I know of is Randy Cooper of Randy Cooper plastic models he has some absolutely amazing display cabinets
There are wireless led, they are powered by an inductive base (like the one used for the smartphones). So you don’t have messy cable around your figure, but you need to replace all the led. And it will also be very expensive.
A very nice touch for the DIY battery replacement would be to use heat shrink tubing (not only gluing) to be safer and prettier . And sincerely 40 $ for a box that only has the specific conectors... I would buy the connectors, create a 3d printed box, buy a 5V wall adaptor with a 2A (I suppose It would be enough and they are small), and connect all the connectors/LEDs in parallel to the 5V supply, or make 2 groups in parallel if current is not enough (obviously you need a resistor to limit the current, that depends on the LEDs used, 220 Ohm may be a good option, or use a potentiometer to check the correct value safely).
@@Funkeditup Plus they are super easy to make yourself. A few tiny capacitors to smooth out the power delivery, some 32g wire wrapped like 120x round a pencil to make a coil. Solder the whole lot in series then to the battery terminals and place it on a cheap wireless phone charger, i bought 12x12inch charging pads for like £25 each. Did a whole display cab with 21 fairly large models, all the chargers hidden by cutting foam out and covering it in vinyl. Best bit was i could reposition any of the models and they would light up as soon as they were placed back in the unit. Whole project was under £200.
@@tothethreshold.9965 Sounds like you got it nailed. I only speak from few things I've seen for power delivery, ideal opportunity for something where you want to get rid of wired solutions. Sounds very cool! Should show @Norm what it's like
You can plug it into the wall. And a single large battery pack you can easily unplug to swap is a world of difference from a half dozen tiny battery compartments you have to manually open and replace.
I think Norm is too scared to open the figures and replace the LED. That's if it's even possible to do without breaking something. I have a Hot Toys figure where the LED light in the head never worked from the first day. I could be a simple loose wire but I have found no way to get inside without damaging it.
The wires would drive me bonkers if it was a dynamic display. For something like a hall of armor display though, you'd be able to get away with hiding the wires behind them if you wanted to light up all the arc reactors
It's just an idle question, but would induction work with something like this? I suppose it would depend on the amount of lighting and power draw required, but it might be a nice option if it was possible.
I think I’d rather use Lego led light kits and daisy chain them. I have 8 sets lit off one wall wort and I turn them on with a wi-fi wall switch. It makes as much or more sense than this if you can get into the LEDs in the figure. Plus the wires are smaller, and have connectors on them.
That tiny compartment size is the biggest issue, but this looks like a good use case for all those short throw wireless charging project that used to pop up in every CES... My understanding is that most of them died off for either lack of funding, QI charging being good enough, or the project not being able to provide enough charge to keep going as a way to charge smartphones... but it'd probably be enough for a few led lights. Problem is, most of them still need a little space for coil on the reception side... some were keychain sized, which unfortunately would still be too big for those battery compartment. But perhaps putting it on the base and hiding the wire? Only problem I'd have with this solution is on taking it out of place. Friggin dust gets everywhere, even when your display case is closed up and all. Then again, I'm really just speculating.... no money for led light figures. xD Most of what I have are anime figures which don't require lights anyways, and I still didn't bother putting lights inside my figure cabinet display just yet. :P
It would be cool to see someone model a cover for the power pack that fits in the iron man universe, and weather the plugs to look like a piece of Stark tech.
Why not a wireless charging circuit, like with your smartphone? You can place toy above the charging station, but still be battery powered when not in the display case.
The long term problem that comes up is that the LEDs can burn out and there's no practical way of replacing the lights, if the LEDs were fully replaceable that'd be the best case scenario but it'd make manufacturing most figures too complicated and expensive.
Overpriced sure, clumsy? I wouldnt say so, how else will something like this work, there are work arounds you can do to hide the wires other wise if you want to fully hide the wires that means full modifications like taking the figure apart and run the risk of causing damage
@@dobbear I would say having a bunch of wires hanging off your model is clumsy. I don't particularly care if their isn't a better alternative, if my only option is to eat a turd or a more rancid turd, I'm still having to eat a turd.
Honestly, not meant to be shady or salty, but if you're spending that much money buying that many Hot Toys figures, $60 for this thing isn't really going to make you bat an eye. The wires are really unattractive, though. I'm shocked, for the money, Sideshow / Hot Toys don't have these figures wired with an an all-in-one power socket anyway for display purposes. One plug running into a boot to power the whole rig would be relatively easy to craft into the original mold.
There is also another company I don't remember battery replacement Wireless short-range where the figure has to stand on the base but there are no wires Chargers like a wireless adapter for your cell phone again short-range something like 12 to 6 in.... Singles with Lego there is a wireless adapter for LED lights... If someone's better at searching the web there are videos on it unfortunately I lost all my history about a year ago back and what's 48 hours a week of TH-cam I am not going back that far but yes there is a wireless replacement as well
There was a wireless version of this attempted to be made. Basically an induction set up with wireless power cells that could be inserted into the hot toys battery compartments. Would have been wonderful, but was never successfully funded… www.kickstarter.com/projects/tritonetechs/tritone-ash-always-ready-wireless-power-base-and-cell
Does anyone here see the irony (no pun intended) of trying to figure out how keep the Iron Man armor powered? Ark Reactor anyone? I heard it can be built with a box of scraps. But then again, we are not Tony Stark... oh well... power supply it is.
@@RogerTN. For the wires in the battery compartment. I tend to cut a small block of wood or styrene dowel to the size of the battery it will be replacing. I then just glue a piece of thin metal plate to where the positive and negative should be and solder the wires to the plates at each end. Usually I just snip of parts from cheap electronics I like dollar store LED tea candles etc. I mark the the ends of the wood or sytrene dowel as red and black for positive and negative end along with a note of the voltage I've set. Normally I just use 12v transformers used for LED strips and a variable resistors to control distribution. I tend to build them on a 'breadboard' first while I set the voltage etc before them into a diorama or box.
@@wuji8305 thanks for the quick reply. I want to replace a 3 button cell battery and each is 1.5V giving a total of 4.5V. I plan on using USB powered plug (around 5 V) so I would not need to use any resistors right? About soldering the wires to the plates, would it matter soldering to the top? I'd rather solder to the bottom and leave the entire plate to make contact for the positive/negative connections. For the plates, I am thinking about using copper sheets - do you know the preferred gauge (16, 20, 22)?
@@RogerTN. Not sure on the copper plates as I usually use scraps of metal I already have. Thicker will be more durable without losing noticable conductivity. You could put a notch in each end of the dowel/styrene and run the wire in that behind the plate. Soldering wire and plate then glue to dowel with wire in the notch. Different coloured LEDs have difference tolerances for range. Too much will damage them but 0.5v shouldn't cause a problem with white LEDs from personal experience. That being said I take no responsibility for any damages should an issue occur.
65$ and doesn't come with any sort of way to charge it and it uses a barrel jack for 5V input to charge, that's the stupidest shit I've ever seen. They could have just simply put a micro usb or usb c port for charging, with zero modification to the circuit.
The most expensive part is the licensing. You think Disney doesn't want big money on every figure sold? And actor likeness isn't cheap either. You can get much cheaper unlicensed figures but the sculpt, paint and quality control is rarely as good.
This is nothing revolutionary or amazing tbh 😂. Its so basic that an entry level engineering student can make that... I would be more interested if this works wirelessly... which is again nothing fancy in itself.. wireless charging modules can be easily used for that.
Title: "Without Batteries"
Norm: "I'll be using this USB battery pack".
lol, weird clickbait
i mean... i think he means more practical/optimal batteries, a usb batterypack is pretty smart and easier to use than those small round clockbatteries he showed. And its technically not only batterypower, you can choose to run if off a wallplug
@@eriksimca9409 yeah. I know. I was just being grumpy and picky. And at the same time it could have been titled differently while still maintaining the impact that this one might have had. Given the other in- depth electronics projects we've seen from them I would think that they would have a) presented a custom build rather than an of the shelf product and b) not felt the need to dumb down the title for us. I do also understand that exposing people to simple DIY solutions presented simply is an excellent gateway to further making and personal exploration.
Like I say. I was just a bit grumpy. I definitely could have made my comment much more constructive than I did.
You should look at the power republic wireless led kits, they are induction powered, like a wireless charger. They are really cool.
Any idea where I can get them?
These are pretty cool. I normally strip a USB compatible cable, solder it to some LED strips and plug it into a USB adapter. Haven't been able to scale down a connection for smaller projects.
Very cool.
Love your collection and lighting cabinet display Norm!
I've always said, Hot Toys need to create a wired up torso that uses conductive charging from their own display stands.
The soapbox solution is ok, but I couldn't do with those wires personally.
What do the batteries in the legs power by the way?
I didn't see it in this video, but I'd guess the repulsors in the feet, for "in-flight" play/display options.
I agree. Is a conductive charging circuit too difficult or too expensive to implement? It seems wireless charging would be a better solution.
@@adrianedmundson3330 Hot Toys light up features are the most basic and cheapest design you can get. I don't have many figures with light up features and yet I have 2 that had problems. A Batman where the eyes light up but they were broken on arrival. No way to open the head to fix it either. I also had another figure with a big square base that had 2 little LED on the front corners. They didn't work either. That was easy to open and I saw how basic and cheap the wiring and soldering were. It shows that it really is the feature they put the least effort in. I'm at the point where I mod my figures to look good without the lights. I painted the eyes of that Batman with an optic white paint that is just very very white. Now it doesn't look dead without the lights.
We need a full tour of all the cool stuff in your collection!
Really the battery replacement part should just be spring loaded so I can fit different sizes without spacers.
Also can we talk about that figure needing five battery compartments with multiple batteries in each.
I have essentially done my own versions of this for numerous things over the years. It is relatively easy to do (using suitable resistors and a wall-wart or USB supply) I have a display cabinet with a multi-port USB charger doing the same job as the soap reactor then use resistors for the LEDs, battery compartment connectors are either done the way he did if I want them removable or are soldered directly to the contacts. The fine wiring sold for dolls house lighting is the wire I normally use, it comes in white and I normally paint it to blend with the background. USB plugs are savaged from redundant devices or from pound-shop phone charging cables.
If removable, what do you use exactly for the positive/negative ends where it will connect? Solder wires to a brass contact tip for example? I'd be interested in the details.
@@RogerTN. I have only done removable ones for AA and AAA batteries these are wooden dowels with drawing pins as terminals
@@RogerTN. If I'm doing them removable it's typically for AA or AAA batteries. I use short dowels with brass thumb tacks/drawing pins as the contacts
Creative !
You can light ships and vehicles using the Soap Reactor too.
😎👍
So - "How To Light Hot Toys Figures Without Batteries" involves taking out the batteries and adding a battery pack. Got it, yeah - great title Norm!
When it comes down to being able to light hot toys figures the best person I've ever seen and by far the best collection by composition that I know of is Randy Cooper of Randy Cooper plastic models he has some absolutely amazing display cabinets
Cool video, let's see more of your collection!
And this is why Norm is my Favorite diy dude!!!
There are wireless led, they are powered by an inductive base (like the one used for the smartphones). So you don’t have messy cable around your figure, but you need to replace all the led. And it will also be very expensive.
Here I thought you were going to replace the LEDs with those wireles LEDs they make for gundam models
I thought this was the wireless LEDs in a large induction field.
I smell a patent.
Already exists x-base
led powerd with a laser
A very nice touch for the DIY battery replacement would be to use heat shrink tubing (not only gluing) to be safer and prettier .
And sincerely 40 $ for a box that only has the specific conectors... I would buy the connectors, create a 3d printed box, buy a 5V wall adaptor with a 2A (I suppose It would be enough and they are small), and connect all the connectors/LEDs in parallel to the 5V supply, or make 2 groups in parallel if current is not enough (obviously you need a resistor to limit the current, that depends on the LEDs used, 220 Ohm may be a good option, or use a potentiometer to check the correct value safely).
Have you tried wirelessly powered LEDs via induction? Could be an interesting project
X-base wireless power station and LEDs was a commercial product. Potentially create battery replacements powered via induction
@@Funkeditup Plus they are super easy to make yourself.
A few tiny capacitors to smooth out the power delivery, some 32g wire wrapped like 120x round a pencil to make a coil. Solder the whole lot in series then to the battery terminals and place it on a cheap wireless phone charger, i bought 12x12inch charging pads for like £25 each.
Did a whole display cab with 21 fairly large models, all the chargers hidden by cutting foam out and covering it in vinyl.
Best bit was i could reposition any of the models and they would light up as soon as they were placed back in the unit.
Whole project was under £200.
@@tothethreshold.9965 Sounds like you got it nailed. I only speak from few things I've seen for power delivery, ideal opportunity for something where you want to get rid of wired solutions. Sounds very cool! Should show @Norm what it's like
But in the end you still use another type of battery 😄
You can plug it into the wall. And a single large battery pack you can easily unplug to swap is a world of difference from a half dozen tiny battery compartments you have to manually open and replace.
@@fireant202 Yes but the title says ''Without Batteries'' so ... I was thinking of an induction system, like that of wireless chargers.
Adam needs to go to comic con as himself with some slight mods to his face so people thinks he is imitating Adam lol hope that makes sense
Kinda like Brian Cranston did by wearing a realistic head of Walter White.
I always wondered if theirs a wireless charger version you can buy or make without setting your house on fire.
Not a bad price, considering what working with a breadboard would involve.
what about the induction gundam lights that were featured on strange parts
I think Norm is too scared to open the figures and replace the LED. That's if it's even possible to do without breaking something. I have a Hot Toys figure where the LED light in the head never worked from the first day. I could be a simple loose wire but I have found no way to get inside without damaging it.
You could use small washers as spacers
is it possible to plug the ccfl lightsaber directly into the arm box with the soap reactor cable rather than on ccfl power inverter battery 9v?
The wires would drive me bonkers if it was a dynamic display.
For something like a hall of armor display though, you'd be able to get away with hiding the wires behind them if you wanted to light up all the arc reactors
I love that he isn't embarrassed to just call them toys.
its becoming normal and mainstream, espeically as the generation grows up and the boomers die out. pop cultures too big rn
These really are sold to adults and not kids. Besides, what kid could afford to buy them?
@@BROON71 Spoilt ones, but adults can have toys too, being expensive does not negate something being a toy.
It’s what they are. Any action figure collector who can’t admit that they collect toys is in the wrong hobby.
It's just an idle question, but would induction work with something like this? I suppose it would depend on the amount of lighting and power draw required, but it might be a nice option if it was possible.
th-cam.com/video/PsUsByrOveE/w-d-xo.html
Get small disc magnets for shims.
Scotty from Strange Parts did a video on wireless LEDs. That product was called X-Base.com
That's a cool easy to light them up
I think I’d rather use Lego led light kits and daisy chain them. I have 8 sets lit off one wall wort and I turn them on with a wi-fi wall switch. It makes as much or more sense than this if you can get into the LEDs in the figure. Plus the wires are smaller, and have connectors on them.
Hi
How do you install on light up chest
Mine doesn’t fit at all
Thanks
That tiny compartment size is the biggest issue, but this looks like a good use case for all those short throw wireless charging project that used to pop up in every CES...
My understanding is that most of them died off for either lack of funding, QI charging being good enough, or the project not being able to provide enough charge to keep going as a way to charge smartphones... but it'd probably be enough for a few led lights.
Problem is, most of them still need a little space for coil on the reception side... some were keychain sized, which unfortunately would still be too big for those battery compartment.
But perhaps putting it on the base and hiding the wire?
Only problem I'd have with this solution is on taking it out of place. Friggin dust gets everywhere, even when your display case is closed up and all.
Then again, I'm really just speculating.... no money for led light figures. xD Most of what I have are anime figures which don't require lights anyways, and I still didn't bother putting lights inside my figure cabinet display just yet. :P
It would be cool to see someone model a cover for the power pack that fits in the iron man universe, and weather the plugs to look like a piece of Stark tech.
We need something like I brix for these figures.
Why would this be an alternative?
I think Stranger Parts talked about wireless LEDs
where can i buy one of these?
Where Can I buy this? Thanks
Why not a wireless charging circuit, like with your smartphone? You can place toy above the charging station, but still be battery powered when not in the display case.
those kits are awful ... I would replace batteries everyday than have wires like that
This video is TOO DANG LONG!!! Short answer for everyone, magic. Long answer, awesome video! Thanks!
Where can I find the screwdriver Norm used in this video?
It's on Amazon. Google "122 in 1 Precision Screwdriver set by Justech" ..
The long term problem that comes up is that the LEDs can burn out and there's no practical way of replacing the lights, if the LEDs were fully replaceable that'd be the best case scenario but it'd make manufacturing most figures too complicated and expensive.
Literally the 1% people who reading. May your family 👨👩👧👦Live more than 100 year with good health #💖.......
With the 1/4 scale visor removed, he looks like a Power Ranger by way of Daft Punk.
Kinda unrelated but I really wish LEGO made compact light up lightsabers
How to make toys without batteries here are some batteries
I want to do something like that with my neca figures
great!
Video 2 in this series is: 'How to use your laptop whilst not actually draining your battery'. And he just plugs it into the mains
This is such a clumsy and overpriced "solution".
Overpriced sure, clumsy? I wouldnt say so, how else will something like this work, there are work arounds you can do to hide the wires other wise if you want to fully hide the wires that means full modifications like taking the figure apart and run the risk of causing damage
@@dobbear I would say having a bunch of wires hanging off your model is clumsy. I don't particularly care if their isn't a better alternative, if my only option is to eat a turd or a more rancid turd, I'm still having to eat a turd.
Honestly, not meant to be shady or salty, but if you're spending that much money buying that many Hot Toys figures, $60 for this thing isn't really going to make you bat an eye. The wires are really unattractive, though. I'm shocked, for the money, Sideshow / Hot Toys don't have these figures wired with an an all-in-one power socket anyway for display purposes. One plug running into a boot to power the whole rig would be relatively easy to craft into the original mold.
@@Bad_Wolf_Media - a socket is so messy. I would use 2 alnico contacts, basically a Magsafe connection.
@@dobbear Companies have started making wireless LEDs specifically for this application...
That's more batteries to wired conversion than no batteries.
Yeah
"Part of the story".. love it when people can see the bigger picture and not get stuck in OCD. :)
rather change the batteries and have it be seamless tbh
Is this a statue or does it have some articulation?
It’s not a statue
hey it's Iron Man in the shop with wires hooked in doing diagnostic testing of his equipment so it works ;)
I love this ongoing stuff on Tested. Norm and Sgt Bananas was awesome!
if it wasnt ironman this solution is pretty useless. tbh great vid tho
There is also another company I don't remember battery replacement Wireless short-range where the figure has to stand on the base but there are no wires Chargers like a wireless adapter for your cell phone again short-range something like 12 to 6 in.... Singles with Lego there is a wireless adapter for LED lights... If someone's better at searching the web there are videos on it unfortunately I lost all my history about a year ago back and what's 48 hours a week of TH-cam I am not going back that far but yes there is a wireless replacement as well
There was a wireless version of this attempted to be made. Basically an induction set up with wireless power cells that could be inserted into the hot toys battery compartments. Would have been wonderful, but was never successfully funded… www.kickstarter.com/projects/tritonetechs/tritone-ash-always-ready-wireless-power-base-and-cell
Does anyone here see the irony (no pun intended) of trying to figure out how keep the Iron Man armor powered? Ark Reactor anyone? I heard it can be built with a box of scraps. But then again, we are not Tony Stark... oh well... power supply it is.
The price for the kit is ridonkulous. I've been making them myself for years for a fraction of the cost.
I'd appreciate if you could share details on how exactly. My main concern is the positive/negative ends. Solder wires to brass tips for example?
@@RogerTN. For the wires in the battery compartment. I tend to cut a small block of wood or styrene dowel to the size of the battery it will be replacing. I then just glue a piece of thin metal plate to where the positive and negative should be and solder the wires to the plates at each end. Usually I just snip of parts from cheap electronics I like dollar store LED tea candles etc. I mark the the ends of the wood or sytrene dowel as red and black for positive and negative end along with a note of the voltage I've set. Normally I just use 12v transformers used for LED strips and a variable resistors to control distribution. I tend to build them on a 'breadboard' first while I set the voltage etc before them into a diorama or box.
@@wuji8305 thanks for the quick reply. I want to replace a 3 button cell battery and each is 1.5V giving a total of 4.5V. I plan on using USB powered plug (around 5 V) so I would not need to use any resistors right? About soldering the wires to the plates, would it matter soldering to the top? I'd rather solder to the bottom and leave the entire plate to make contact for the positive/negative connections. For the plates, I am thinking about using copper sheets - do you know the preferred gauge (16, 20, 22)?
@@RogerTN. Not sure on the copper plates as I usually use scraps of metal I already have. Thicker will be more durable without losing noticable conductivity. You could put a notch in each end of the dowel/styrene and run the wire in that behind the plate. Soldering wire and plate then glue to dowel with wire in the notch. Different coloured LEDs have difference tolerances for range. Too much will damage them but 0.5v shouldn't cause a problem with white LEDs from personal experience. That being said I take no responsibility for any damages should an issue occur.
Use lasers to light the points you want lit. No need for holes.
0:43 thats kinda sad
I wonder if someone can make a QI wireless charger that powers up one of those battery replacement kit for these models.
65$ and doesn't come with any sort of way to charge it and it uses a barrel jack for 5V input to charge, that's the stupidest shit I've ever seen. They could have just simply put a micro usb or usb c port for charging, with zero modification to the circuit.
Stunningly pointless with a click bait title.
I rather go for $500 on batteries and no wires tbh.
almost 500 bucks for the ironman?! it's essentially mass produced bits of plastic, not sure how they get away with that
The most expensive part is the licensing. You think Disney doesn't want big money on every figure sold? And actor likeness isn't cheap either. You can get much cheaper unlicensed figures but the sculpt, paint and quality control is rarely as good.
Now you have to plug in your action figures. What a stupid idea.
You have a closed mind
You’re the opposite of Mr Stark.
What you don’t realize is majority of these hot toys are display pieces and are often left alone in a display case and this would work perfectly
This is nothing revolutionary or amazing tbh 😂. Its so basic that an entry level engineering student can make that... I would be more interested if this works wirelessly... which is again nothing fancy in itself.. wireless charging modules can be easily used for that.
Fifth
First nerds
sup
Second
No u third
Fourth